Parliamentary circus

POLITICIANS making spectacles of themselves is so common is Sri Lanka that most citizens have become immune to it. However, occasionally there is such an exceptional degradation that it becomes instant front page news – so it was with the Western Provincial Council (WPC) on Monday.  

The WPC met on Monday morning ostensibly to debate the Budget for the coming year. However, Opposition representatives decided that it was the opportune moment to stage a protest against WPC Minister Udaya Gammanpila who had earlier criticised the 13th Amendment and the Provincial Council system.

Government members then retaliated by snatching away placards held by their counterparts, resulting in a melee where ears and noses were bitten, according to news reports. The altercation provided plenty of excellent footage for TV reports but made the public at large disgusted with the behaviour of their so-called representatives.

The frequent insults hurled in Parliament have become such common knowledge that people laugh it off, knowing that objecting to it is pointless. As a consequence important debates are often steamrolled over by unnecessary and ugly bickering that leave the fate of the nation completely unattended. Even the all-important national Budget debates are sidetracked by endless invectives that do nothing to deal with the questions on hand.

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 deeply the governance system of Sri Lanka is flawed.

When foul words are not enough, they resort to insensitive actions such as demanding luxury breakfast items when the rest of their constituents can barely put a meal of bread and dhal together for Rs. 80, which is what is paid by Parliamentarians for their lusty meals.

Callousness runs so deep that Parliamentarians are demanding pork even when their Muslim brethren have religious reasons to shun such consumption. Perhaps the most ridiculous aspect of this was that the Speaker made an incredibly sexist comment in asking the female MPs to look into the meals. It seems that their task remains limited even though the people who elected them into the House have given them different responsibilities.

Even with such scrumptious food on offer, it would seem that it provides little attraction to MPs, with many ministers being absent for the debate where their funding allocations were to be discussed. If the Government is serious in its quest for development, then the ministers need to understand their weighty task and not blatantly disregard their duties. Such negligence should surely be reprimanded severely.

Food brought together Opposition and Government legislatures during the dinner hosted by the Speaker, where President Rajapaksa was seen animatedly conversing with the MPs. It would seem that at the end of the day all their displays are for the public and behind doors relations are as sweet at the honey served at Parliament breakfasts.