SRI LANKA: Do legislators have the right to be silly in parliament?

Contributors: Basil Fernando-October 30, 2012

In an earlier article we asked the question, "Can the legislature declare all automobiles to be rickshaws?" We must simplify the question by asking whether legislators have the right to be silly when they are legislating. We are not concerned about their silliness outside their duty to deal with legislation. Even if we are guilty of selecting some silly fellows as our legislators, we have right to expect that they will behave properly at the duty hours.

Now, any fellow who plays the fool by placing scurrilous letters in front of parliament is doing a very silly thing. More than the silly fellow, their controllers are at fault.

That is nothing, however, compared to what the government is trying to do by attacking the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice with all kinds of things, including appearing to file a motion for impeachment against Chief Justice just because she does not do exactly what the government wants.

What is worse is that all this is done merely to assist those fellows who are placed in the ITN and state media to do all kinds of silly things. Everyone knows these jokes but to make Supreme Court the target of such jokes is downright irresponsible. There are things that we never play jokes on. And the country's highest court is one of those.

Only lunatics do not know where to stop a joke, and surely the silliness among the legislators should not be allowed to go that far.

It for the people to say that we do not enjoy these jokes. If people do not do that, then the world will think that this whole nation is silly, if not mad.  

The people of a nation that allows their legislative assembly to be used to play silly pranks on the country's Supreme Court will only prove the saying that people get the leaders they deserve.