The P in MP?

Wednesday, 27 May 2015 00:23 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

FREQUENT insults hurled in Parliament have become such common knowledge that people laugh it off, knowing that objecting to it is pointless. But things hit a new low recently with the now famous vitriolic hurled by MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara at Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

Even though Nanayakkara has since conveyed his regrets to the public, it does little to address the overall issue of discipline in the House. As a consequence, important debates are often steamrolled over by unnecessary and ugly bickering, leaving the fate of the nation completely unattended. Even the all-important National Budget debates are side-tracked by endless invectives that do nothing to deal with the questions on hand, some even when the president is attending sessions.

In fact readers will remember how Deputy Minister of Petroleum Sarana Gunawardane was suspended from Parliament in 2011 for a period of one week for his misconduct in the House during the Budget speech by throwing a bottle of water at the Opposition.

An exasperated Speaker in 2013 decided to hold classes to teach Members of Parliament the basics of decorum when they are seated in the House. This was seen as a clearly overdue move, but the public would argue it has not been constructive given the deplorable shenanigans that take place not just in Parliament but also at provincial council level.  

Such littering of invectives has long since filtered down to provincial level, with politicians doing their best to outdo each other in the foul-mouth arena. If a contest were to be held, it would be a close call between the various political parties that often ignore the presence of women and children at the venues where they vent the lower part of their vocabulary.

With such behaviour regularly on display, it is little wonder that respect for these forums has been all but lost. Some public representatives even lower themselves to using these cheap tricks to gain media attention, clearly following the adage that any publicity is better than no publicity. Such clear displays of ignorance and uncouthness only serve to underscore how long the road for Sri Lanka’s democracy really is.

When foul words are not enough, they resort to insensitive actions such as not being present when critical issues are being debated. Ministers are also known to be absent when their funding allocations were to be discussed. If the Government is serious in its quest for good governance, then the ministers need to understand their weighty task and not blatantly disregard their duties. Such negligence should surely be reprimanded severely.

With Parliamentary elections ostensibly around the corner, the public have a rare chance to demand better from their public representatives. In the Government that has pledged to change the political environment and standards of politicians, such behaviour cannot be deemed acceptable. A voter has the power to stop the verbal abuse and set benchmarks.

It is high time that serious action is taken to instil discipline in MPs, which would have the added advantage of being a beacon to provincial councils and could well herald a day when politicians are given a smidgen of genuine respect.

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