The Opposition has a responsibility in representing us properly

Thursday, 27 December 2012 

An open letter was jointly issued by the unions and others regarding 'The Opposition has a responsibility in representing us properly'.

See full letter below

20 December, 2012,

Colombo.

To all Opposition Members of Parliament, Provincial Councils and LG bodies,

The Opposition has a responsibility in representing us properly

“This is no era that allows for a conservative Opposition and a silent society.This is an era, all Citizens should consciously demand from the Opposition to represent citizens' rights.”

When the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice was handed over to the Speaker of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, who is also the leader of the UNP, held the parliament stands supreme and should be such on all issues. Not only the other opposition political parties, but also the government side, agreed on that. This regime uses that logic and the parliament to give them a Constitutional license and some decency in rule.

The UNP thus took umbrage, when the President entertained editors for a discussion on the impeachment, along with government Members in the Parliamentary Select Committee. Issuing a lengthy statement the UNP claimed the Editors should have walked away from that discussion. They held, the government should adhere to Commonwealth standards in parliamentary conduct. For the UNP, the parliament is sacred.

Yet for us ? For the Citizens of this country ?

There is complete agreement between all of us, that this Rajapaksa regime does not adhere to Constitutional rule. The impeachment does not intend to have a clean Chief Justice (CJ). We all know, for a regime which does not hold the Constitution and people's Sovereignty with respect, an independent judiciary is not only unwanted, but also would take it as a hindrance. The impeachment is therefore an attempt to have the judiciary under the total control of the Executive, the way the Legislature is held.

There is an urgent need for such control by the Executive and could be summarised thus.

1. The largest social security fund in whole of South Asia is our Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) with around a Trillion rupees in its hold. This fund was to be used to establish an employees' pension fund, for which a bill was hurriedly presented in parliament by the government, with the Opposition accepting it for the first reading. This attempt by the government was defeated only on the strength of the agitations and protests of organised labour. Now, 11 trade unions together have petitioned the Supreme Court, praying for all details of investments by the Monetary Board (MB) of the Central Bank, using monies from the EPF and a stay order to stop any further investments of EPF monies by the MB of the Central Bank.

2. The Opposition has also agreed to allow this regime to have the “Divi Neguma” bill in the Order book of the parliament the way they wished, without any amendments or the consent of the PCs. But there still remains space for any citizen to seek judicial intervention on the Divi Neguma bill.

3. The budget for year 2013 was Read in parliament for the Second time without any required amendments as determined by the Supreme Court, with clear participation by the Opposition, that now makes it legal having passed through parliament in its Third reading too. The problem nevertheless as better understood by the President is, the regime can not always pin faith on Opposition support for such unconstitutional necessities of the regime.

Does this parliament therefore, represent us, the citizens ? We have a loud “NO” as the answer.

Although this parliament was elected by the people, it does not represent the people who elect it. The 1978 Constitution that installed an Executive Presidency has totally devalued the representative factor of this parliamentary system of rule. The Constitution not only makes the President, the Head of State, but also the Leader of the ruling party. The President thus becomes almighty, with unlimited powers vested in him/her to foster positions, perks and any privilege upon any MP of his/her choice. Thus the parliament has turned out be a House that follow the dictates of this almighty President.

That deformity in people's representation is topped by the legal provision the Opposition MPs have gained from the ruling given by former CJ, Sarath N Silva, in crossing over to the government. This has negated the votes of many hundred thousand voters, who wanted them represented in parliament.

This parliament has thus created a very wide gap between an “elected” parliament and one that “represent” the people. People's Sovereignty in parliament depends on how far and seriously the elected members represent the people and not on what is written into the Constitution alone. In other words, the attempt to have Standing Orders and traditions adhered to in parliament, or working to save the membership of the Commonwealth, would not help preserve people's representation in parliament.

The role of the Opposition to date as regards the impeachment, did not recognise our representation in any way. It only helped the regime to further establish its authority in parliament. This regime only wants an Opposition in parliament to vote against it, in order to give all its decisions a democratic validity. Engaging in the coming debate on the impeachment, would only give that credibility to this regime that lacks any.

Today, people's sovereignty is where the people come on the streets. Where people demand a living wage, reduction in cost of living, farmers' monthly pension, fair play and opportunities in schools' and university admissions and protests against arbitrary arrests and detentions, abductions, involuntary disappearances, extra judicial and custodial killings, torture, physical and sexual abuse of children, rape of women and continuous and unsolved murders and crimes. Where people are out on the streets almost daily agitating and potesting.

Therefore, we should not and can not be represented in parliament to provide this regime a decent license and a democratic facade. Such collaborations don't give us any representation. It is the Opposition that now has the responsibility to represent us, Citizens, right and proper. We therefore take this opportunity to tell, what and how we citizens should be represented in parliament.

We thus request you to influence and convince your party leadership to represent our political aspirations firm and right by,

• refusing any collaborations with the regime in parliament that would provide the regime the credibility and democratic look it lacks and accordingly withdraw from and boycott the proposed debate on the impeachment report, when parliament resumes sittings again.

We firmly believe you would collaborate with us citizens in giving our representation its due meaning and responsibility.

Thanking you,

yours in sovereignty of the people,

Anton Marcus - Joint Secretary, Free Trade Zones &General Services Employees Union

Joseph Starlin - President, Ceylon Teachers Union

Muditha Karunamuni - Treasure, Union of Postal &Telecommunication Officers

Saranapala Silva - General Secretary, United Federation Of Labour

Dammika Jayawardana - President, Ceylon Estate Staff Union

Niel Wijethilaka – General Secretary , United Workers Union

R.S.Nandal - President, Insurance Cooperation Employees Union

Lal Bangamuwage - Independent Port Workers Union

Deelapa Witharana - Senior Lecture Sri Lanka Open University

Attorney at law, Srinath Perera – Workers' Democratic Forum

Jayathilake Bandara – Musician and Convenor, “We are Citizens”

Jagath Kularatne – Business Manager

Hasantha Gunaweera – Professional Social Mobiliser

Kusal Perera – Journalist, Chief Editor – “Subhavitha” periodical

Dr. Sunil Wijesiriwardne