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The Parliamentary Elections of 2024 promises to be an unusual one in more ways than one. Even though the nomination process has only just been completed and elections are one month away, some clear trends are visible.

One of the strongest cries that have emerged during recent times is the need to revamp the quality of representation in Parliament. The criticisms of those who have been members of the legislature in recent times has ranged from allegations of corruption to failure to make meaningful contributions to the legislative process. Some hardly or never speak during the debates while some of those who did speak only made contributions which can be deemed un Parliamentary both in content as well as language. While the cry to blame all 225 members of Parliament for much of the ills of the country may be exaggerated (there have been many decent and committed Parliamentarians among them), a great responsibility will be cast on the voter to weed out the ‘bad eggs’ that have managed to get nominations from the respective parties.  

It is interesting to identify some of the characteristics that are likely to be reflected in the new Parliament as evidenced from the nominations that have been submitted and accepted by the Election Commission. One of the predictions that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake made on the Presidential campaign trail show signs of being realised even before polling day is in sight. He stated that two thirds of the members of the then legislature would not be re elected in the new Parliament.

With many Parliamentarians of the past Parliament fighting shy of facing the hustings this time, the outcome predicted by the President has already been put in motion. Of course the reasons given by those who have opted out are varied but the real reasons for the lack of motivation are easily discernible to most people.

There are many who have called it a day after a long stint in the legislature. There are others who have opted out because the chance of re election are little or very minimal but cannot obviously say so. Wimal Weerawansa who first entered politics through the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ( JVP ) but parted ways from his parent party and has been a strong critic of the JVP has expressed a new found concern for the JVP (NPP ) as the reason for not contesting this time.

He has stated that he does not want the President to become Gotabaya Rajapakse 2 and end up a victim of conspiratorial international forces and therefore would rather work towards preventing such an outcome by refraining from presenting himself as a candidate.

What is most interesting is the impact that the economic crisis and the aragalaya has had on the once powerful Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and its stalwarts. After the catastrophic showing at the recent Presidential Election, Namal Rajapakse who is now the de facto Leader of his party has opted for the safety of the National List rather than contesting on the District list. His close ally Tissa kuttiarachi as well as the Secretary of the SLPP Sagara Kariyawasam have followed suit.

Other big wigs of the SLPP have taken more drastic decisions of completely staying away from the poll. Shehan Semasinghe the former State Minister of Finance and one of the vocal spokesmen of the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration has been honest enough to admit that the people have not accepted the policies of that Government and have wanted a change by electing Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the President. Hence his decision to completely stay away from the polls.

Another SLPP stalwart who extolled the virtues of the Ranil Wickremesinghe Presidency, Prasanna Ranatunge too has decided to give the Parliamentary Elections a miss.

It is evident that many of the SLPP politicians who crossed over to support the former President have realised that they will not benefit from their association with the UNP Leader and have therefore decided to give the polls a miss.

A perusal of the National lists of the political parties shows that most of them contain the names of politicians rather than those whom it was intended for by the framers of the Constitution. Even Ranil Wickremesinghe who has in the past insisted that anyone can be accommodated on the National list only once has not been able to enforce this policy on his followers this time. It will be recalled that former UNP stalwart A. H. M. Azwer who first entered Parliament through the National list but was refused a second opportunity to be on the National list by Ranil Wickremesinghe parted ways with the UNP and joined Mahinda Rajapaksa as a result.

Another feature of the nominations submitted this time around is that the NPP has in its choice of candidates preferred to place its trust in those who have stood by the party through out and have not accommodated new comers on the lists unlike other parties.

Taking the statements of the various parties in the fray this time it is evident that all of them are making a bid to lead the Opposition in the new Parliament rather than challenging the dominance of the NPP and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. But in all probability it will be Sajit Premadasa who will end up as Leader of the Opposition.

With the NPP fielding a team that is new to Parliamentary politics and their almost inevitable success at the elections there will be an injection of fresh blood in to the legislature. In fact Parliament may end up with even more than the two thirds of new faces predicted by Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)