Cure this vehicle mania of politicians

Thursday, 9 March 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

It is sickening to learn again that huge supplementary budget allocations are being made to purchase luxury duty-free vehicles for Central Government MPs using taxpayer money.

As reiterated by the writer in his previous submissions, with the advent of the decentralised Provincial Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas in 1987, the responsibilities of Central Government MPs should have been redesigned to make them only ‘lawmakers’ or ‘legislators’ confined to the centre where the mobility required for them to reach out to the periphery becomes redundant.

If it happened with a well-intentioned political will, the country would have avoided the despicable destruction and mayhem which culminated in a bloody war. Therefore, we beseech the Government to suspend the current moves to spend scarce foreign exchange to purchase luxury vehicles for the political fraternity at the centre and divert these funds to service the colossal debt burden which is paralysing the country’s economy.

It is evident that the Preferential Voting system acted as an obstacle to implementing an effective and productive decentralised political administration system. The entire country, including politicians, now agrees without demur that the scandalous Preferential Voting system has to be abolished with the forthcoming electoral reforms.

Since it is already an optional system, why can’t it be abolished by a simple amendment to the relevant laws without calling for a referendum which is in keeping with the election manifesto of the Yahapalanaya Government? However, it should not be reinstalled in the guise of a Mixed-Voting system where again the candidates will be compelled to canvass for votes under a First-past-the post system though on a lower scale.

Finally, we still hold the hope that only a Yahapalanaya Government can rationalise and institute cost-effective political machinery in Sri Lanka and accelerate the process of electoral reforms on the lines proposed in our repeated submissions to the press and the Public Committee on Constitutional Reforms, which in itself was a progressive step initiated by the Government.

Why don’t citizens have a real say in electoral reforms initiated by a Government elected by civilian pressure and efforts? We urge civil society and concerned organisations to guide the Yahapalana Government to the correct path.

Bernard Fernando