Pay, perks and the National List

The ninth Parliament was formally opened by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday and all but handful of the 225 new MPs have now taken their oaths. The UNP remains divided about who will take its single slot. Veteran senior John Amaratunga has staked a claim while others believe that the position should be reserved for the yet-to-be-appointed new leader. There is a very public tussle going on for the prize between two well known Buddhist monks of the Apey Janabala Pakshaya (Our People’s Force Party) with a third layman lurking on the wings. The party’s secretary who had nominated himself for the place has disappeared and is not to be found. Social media was abuzz a few days ago with a Youtube recording of this monk alleging that he was running away from a kind of thuggery that would have done the underworld proud. Where the saga will end remains to be seen. A couple of other newly elected MPs, including one with a High Court death sentence hanging over him, were ‘no shows’ but one new MP arrived with a prison escort from jail where he is remanded on a murder charge. As a party leader, Pillayan as he was known in his LTTE days, made a speech congratulating the new speaker. He said he was able to be present for the inaugural session in the face of great difficulties. He had learned that the process would have to be repeated every single time for him to attend future sessions and he wanted the speaker to protect his privileges.

Readers may recollect a previous occasion when the secretary of a left wing political formation nominated himself for the single national list position won by his group. This group, comprising remnants of the old left wiped out by JRJ’s 1977 landslide, had unanimously agreed that the highly respected and accomplished Dr. Colvin. R. de Silva should take the slot. But he was terminally ill at the time and could not take his oaths. Colvin’s passing left the place vacant for several months before the party secretary of the day nominated himself for the vacancy. This is the way the game is played in what is formally proclaimed as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. We have set out this background in the context of the reality that membership of Parliament confers on both the elected and unelected MPs pay, perks and benefits of a sort that is clearly unaffordable in a country like ours. That, plus the illegitimate earnings easily possible, obviously attracts undesirables. Older readers might remember a cartoon by W.R. Wijesoma at the time the Sirima Bandaranaike government hosted the Non-Aligned Conference in Colombo in 1976. A group of visiting delegates were depicted at the entrance of their posh hotel watching the opulent limousines drawing up under the porch; one tell the other: “It’s hard to believe that this is a poor developing country.” That applies also to benefits heaped on our legislators forgetting what is made on the ‘fringe.’

Now that the government is committed to abolishing 19A and drafting a new constitution including changing the system of elections, the time is right for seriously considering whether we need as many as 25 National List MPs in our 225-member legislature. Time was when our Parliament had 101 members, 95 elected and six appointed to “represent unrepresented interests.” These included the (disgracefully) disenfranchised plantation Tamils, Burghers, Malays and the then remaining British interests in the country. Both Mr. S. Thondaman (Snr.) of the Ceylon Workers Congress and his bete noir, Abdul Azeez of the Democratic Workers Congress held these positions depending on who formed the government. But today’s 25-strong National List is absolutely unconscionable. It was stated that its purpose was to bring persons of repute and ability to Parliament but we can offhand think of only the late Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar who filled that bill. After the 2015 general election President Sirisena appointed a clutch of defeated MPs on the National List. He attempted to justify those appointments claiming that the SLFP from which party he defected, despite fielding them as candidates, had worked hard to ensure their defeat. What is galling about the National List is that it confers patronage opportunities to party leaders who did themselves no credit in choosing many of the candidates run by both sides at the last election.

There is a public demand that at least this time round, the powers-that-be dispense with the practice of distributing duty free vehicle permits to legislators. It is too early yet for any public pronouncement on this subject to made by those who matter right now. Given the size of the mandate and the flush of victory still on their faces, making enemies of your parliamentarians by making unpopular pronouncements makes no sense whatever. But that decision must be taken when the time is right. Doing the right thing entails many pitfalls, as President Premadasa learned when the impeachment motion hit him. That was a time hew set bloodhound on MPs selling their duty free vehicles on ‘open’ papers. Given the kind of customs duty charged on imported vehicles, we do not need to labour over what these permits are worth. The people are very well aware of the kind of bucks that have been made hawking them. Apart from legislators, various others ranging from higher level public servants, university teachers, government doctors and many more benefit from this confetti thrown around with gay abandon for a very long time regardless of the hardships ordinary people suffer on a daily basis. The inevitable covid virus-related economic downturn is yet to hit the nation’s solar plexus as hard as it will. When that time comes, it will present an opportunity for our leaders to demonstrate their caliber by themselves making the sacrifices they will ask of those who voted them into office.