Quitting amidst jumping

Wednesday 10th January, 2024

Never a dull day in Sri Lanka! Interesting issues crop up at such a rate on the political front that one cannot keep track of them. The season of crossovers has commenced, and political leaders are busy engineering defections to have the public believe that their electoral prospects have improved. Amidst defections, something dramatic happened yesterday. SJB MP Chaminda Wijesiri resigned from Parliament. The resignation of an MP is not something one expects in a country where politicians even kill one another to enter Parliament.

Wijesiri’s resignation may have come like a bolt from the blue for many, but speculation had been rife among political observers that he would do so a few weeks ago. He reportedly waited until the budget vote was over to step down. Such resignations are extremely rare in this country, where politicians stick to their positions, like limpets, until they go the way of all flesh, and are ready to slay or be slain to gain or retain power. What actually prompted Wijesiri to quit?

Wijesiri, in a moving farewell speech, told Parliament that the people were so resentful that they were cursing all 225 MPs, and their ill-will had pricked his conscience beyond measure. He said the public did not spare even the family members of the MPs, and it was wrong for anyone to curse politicians’ children for what their parents did. An implication of his statement is that other MPs, including his leader Sajith Premadasa, whom he praised, have no conscience, and that is why they have not resigned.

The government MPs are cursed much more than their Opposition counterparts. Even savage arson attacks on their properties and threats to their lives have not driven them to resign. One of them was killed by a group of anti-government protesters in 2022. So, why should an Opposition MP resign in view of public resentment?

Wijesiri has said he will remain active in politics as a member of the SJB. He must be confident that he will be re-elected. As it stands, the people are not likely to stop cursing the MPs and other politicians in the foreseeable future. So, the question is whether Wijesiri will be able to bring himself to contest the next general election.

There are no models of rectitude among Sri Lankan politicians, who have got uttering half-truths, mistruths, untruths and lies down to a fine art so much so that the public tends to take their claims with not just a pinch but a bucket of salt, as it were. They are ready to go to any extent to serve self-interest. Hence, it is doubtful whether anyone will buy into Wijesiri’s claim that he has acted according to his conscience. The public tends to believe the opposite of what their elected representatives say.

Politicians enrich themselves by entering Parliament and crossing over, in some cases, but over the past several decades we have seen some MPs, especially National List members, profit from their resignations as well. How so? Sri Lanka is not short of ambitious moneybags who are willing to spare no expense in achieving their dream of becoming MPs. After amassing wealth, they want to savour political power, which is synonymous with impunity in this country. Some of them are unsuccessful candidates who are next in line, hoping for vacancies in the parliament, to achieve their dreams.

Wijesiri’s resignation seems to have made SJB Leader Premadasa somewhat apprehensive. Last year, no sooner had A. H. M. Fowzie entered Parliament, following SJB MP Mujibur Rahman’s resignation than he displayed his acrobatic skills despite his age-related limitations; he pole-vaulted to the government side. Premadasa must be hoping and praying that Wijesiri’s successor will not emulate Fowzie. Anything is possible in Sri Lankan politics. Whoever would have thought the UNP and the SLPP would join forces?