Trying to decide whether the Government or the Opposition takes parliamentary business more seriously is a difficult one but going by the happenings in the legislature last week, it is clear both sides are equally slack when it comes to discharging their responsibilities as elected representatives of the people.
Question time in Parliament is when important issues are raised mostly by Opposition members to which ministers in charge of the relevant subjects are expected to provide answers. But of late, it is the Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardana who has been entrusted with the task almost wholly, with only a few ministers taking the time to be present to provide the answers themselves.
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| Ravi Karunanayaka |
Sunil Handunnetti |
While the Chief Whip can read out the prepared answers, the problem arises when MPs raise supplementary questions, answers to which can only be provided in a satisfactory manner by the relevant ministers or their deputies.
The absence of the relevant ministers works more to the disadvantage of the Government when Opposition members raise irrelevant issues, some of which are sensational in nature and get wide publicity while the government side by not being present in the House does not get to tell its side of the story .
A clear example of this took place last week when JVP MP Lakshman Nipunaarachchi raised a supplementary question after a matter was raised regarding losses suffered by the Railway Department. The JVP MP alleged that the Department had spent Rs 600,000 to plant jak tress in a land close to the Fort Railways Station and these plants had been destroyed due to the high content of tar in the land.
The following day after the jak tree issue became public, Transport Minister Dulles Allahaperuma attempted to put the record straight by saying the charges were baseless and that the Railways Department had not spent a cent on the Jak planting project, but by then much of the damage had been done.
However, the incident did prompt Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara to request MPs not to make baseless allegations on the floor of the House but critics say the responsibility of ensuring that supplementary questions are in order and relevant rests with the Speaker.
While the Opposition in general maybe scoring points during question time, the main opposition UNP is particularly tardy when it comes to debates.
On Tuesday, a joint JVP/UNP sponsored adjournment debate was held to discuss the IMF loan facility. The motion was proposed by JVP member Sunil Handunnetti and seconded by UNP’s Ravi Karunanayaka but by the time the debate neared its end there was not a single UNP member in the Chamber while only a handful of JVP members remained.
“The UNP has lost its shock absorbers because of the pressure brought on by the popularity of the government,” Minister Dilan Perera said.
Minister D.E.W.Gunasekera said the UNP had no moral obligation to criticize the government for taking a loan from the IMF.
The JVP’s Kurunegala district MP, Bimal Ratnayaka, said that while the IMF gave loans to the UNP governments in the past in the form of a ready-to -wear suit, the organization had given the Rajapaksa administration the cloth and asked it to cut and stitch it the way it wanted. “There were conditions attached then and there are conditions attached now as well. It’s only the appearance that has changed,” he said.
His former JVP comrade Wimal Weerawansa, who now backs the government, said taking the loan would not be harmful to the country. “We got out of one trap by defeating terrorism, now we need to get out of the debt trap that we have been in for so many years. But that will take time,” he said.
Overall, the government members had a field day. They ridiculed the opposition, mainly the UNP, saying it had no issue to criticize the government and hence it was using “non issues” to score political points.
“In the Uva Provincial elections, the UNP and the JVP only got a slap from the people but in the upcoming Southern PC polls, they will get a bigger slamming,” Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.
If there is a drought of issues for the opposition to attack the ruling party, given the popularity of the Rajapaksa administration, the rains that had caused floods in the IDP camps did provide some ammunition.
When an adjournment motion on the worsening plight of the IDPs was taken up for debate, the UNP, the JVP and the TNA spoke in one voice to criticize the government’s handling of the IDPs. Once again the UNP and the JVP called on the government to allow opposition parliamentarians to the IDP camps. “What is the government trying to hide if things in the camps are as good as the government says they are,” asked JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayaka.
TNA MPs called on the government to respect the freedom of movement of the IDPs. “We will support the government to resettle these people in their homes but they must be allowed to leave the camps if they wish to,” said the TNA’s Wanni district parliamentarian, Sivanathan Kishore.
The Government once again side stepped the issue of allowing access for opposition legislators to the IDP camps but said measures had been taken to move the people affected by the flooding to other areas.
UNP member Ravi .Karunanayaka stood on Thursday to lambaste the government for not having enough ministers present in the House despite maintaining a jumbo Cabinet saying “this is the difference between a responsible opposition and an irresponsible government,” but the UNP would do better to turn the search light inwards to see why only a few of its members make a useful contribution to parliamentary debates on a regular basis and why many are not even present in the House even when important debates are taking place.
And ministers and their deputies too would benefit from being present in the House at least during the hour-long question time if they are to convince the public that their ministries are functioning in a manner beneficial to the people and not reeking with waste, corruption and inefficiency as the opposition alleges. |
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