WHAT THE MAJORITY NEEDS BEFORE THE NEXT ELECTION

Mr. H.M. Nisssanka Warakaulle has written timely and comprehensively on what this nation needs from the next government, towards the well-being of the citizens of the republic. (WHAT THE MAJORITY NEEDS AFTER THE NEXT ELECTION – Sunday Island, January 28) His is a crusade against rampant bribery and corruption inflicted upon the people by governments elected under the JRJ’s bahubootha constitution.

It is a shame that only less than 20 MPs in the present parliament have submitted their respective declarations of assets and liabilities as required by law. The people are writhing under the adversities and deprivations inflicted upon them, particularly by the current dispensation. We need the next parliament to be capable and willing to curb widespread bribery and corruption and pull this nation away from the jaws of disaster that’s awaiting the country.

An important requirement for the next parliament is to ensure that its members can fulfil their responsibilities to the people who elected them and whom they represent. The accepted duties and obligations of members of MPs in a democracy are (1) Enacting new laws, amending others as needed, and formulating national policy; (2) Taxation and budgeting; (3) Planning and implementing development projects; (4) Monitoring government undertakings and expenditure; (5) Debating issues of national importance; and (6) Attending to matters that are of importance to the well-being of their respective electorates. These require women and men with intellectual capacity, tenacity, and the determination to pursue these goals with diligence.

MPs in the next parliament should be honest, educated, capable and respectable ladies and gentlemen. It is such people who will be able to save this nation from certain failure and disgrace. The next election will provide the last opportunity for reform. If we fail this moment, the future will be inevitable repression, eventually followed by the blood and tears of revolutionary reform.

The past and present parliaments were essentially the results of crooked and shameless system of nominating candidates, adopted by political parties. They ran persons who were able to win election by hook or by crook. They had no honour, and often, no education. Citizens have a right to know the educational attainments of the candidate as well as his work experience, and his plans if elected. Ideally, ‘Education’ in this regard should be tertiary (post-secondary) provided by universities, as well as training institutions for teachers, technicians, nurses etc. These should be declared in an affidavit along with her/his nomination papers.

This affidavit should be posted in a dedicated website of the Commissioner of Elections, ideally in all three languages, and accessible to all citizens. Good governance demands that every action should be taken to ensure fielding educated, capable and respectable members of society – ladies and gentlemen – as candidates at the next election. People should not be made to suffer the agony and humiliation of a rotten parliament for another full term. Towards this end it is essential to require every candidate at the next election to declare her/his assets and liabilities as well as the educational attainments, and intentions if elected. It should be a constitutional requirement for political parties to conform to a set of criteria in nominating candidates for all elections.

Ananda Wanasinghe
(ananda@slt.lk)