Lucky rejects

Editorial-August 24, 2015, 8:02 pm 

We withdraw two of the three hearty cheers we gave the UNP last week for its much-advertised decision against appointing defeated candidates as MPs though the National List (NL). Now, we learn that it, too, has smuggled into Parliament a political reject via the NL. Regrettably, that mistake is the proverbial smidgeon of cow dung in the UNP’s pot of milk!

However, what really takes the cake is the appointment of defeated UPFA candidates as NL MPs. They are the rejects of the rejected party! And, their appointment to Parliament cannot be countenanced on any grounds. Worse, they are going places at the expense of the eligible candidates on the UPFA NL.

During Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure as president, the then Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake used to raise the hackles of civil society outfits, especially women’s rights groups and trade unions. They accused him of riding roughshod over university teachers and students whom he called the names of various animals, insulting former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and mismanaging the seats of higher learning. They considered him a total misfit and the people rejected him on August 17. But, President Maithripala Sirisena has arbitrarily brought him in as an MP through the NL! Those who made a hue and cry about the way he behaved as a minister are now acting like the three proverbial monkeys; they hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. Why don’t they demand to know whether President Sirisena believes that the likes of Dissanayake can help him with his yahapalana or good governance project better than the UPFA NL candidates such as D. E. W. Gunasekera and Prof. G. L Peiris?

Leader of the National Movement for Social Justice Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera and Head of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections Keerthi Tennakoon have condemned the appointment of political rejects as MPs. But, they, too, have chosen to find fault with the Constitution which provides for such action rather than the persons responsible for making those despicable appointments. Both of them have called for rectifying the flaws in the Constitution as a solution. One is intrigued. What is constitutional is not necessarily ethical and/or moral as is common knowledge. When previous Presidents including Rajapaksa made use of the constitutional provisions that were antithetical to democracy the champions of good governance tore into them—and rightly so. Such undemocratic acts cost Rajapaksa dear politically.

But, when the incumbent President unflinchingly uses the draconian constitutional provisions to further his interests, the campaigners for good governance blame the Constitution and not him! They used to float like butterflies and sting like bees when Rajapaksa was at fault, but today they are floating like bees and stinging like butterflies, so to speak! Is it that they cannot bring themselves to inveigh against their heroes who have been found to have feet of clay?

Meanwhile, some UPFA activists have started dashing coconuts at devales in protest against the appointment of defeated candidates as NL MPs. They are wasting their time, energy and, above all, precious coconuts! The powers that be these protesters are seeking the intervention of local deities to tame, get protection from presumably more powerful gods in India. They visit the abodes of those deities from time to time and make valuable offerings. Therefore, the UPFA protesters ought to repose their faith in the Sri Lankan public and present their case to the latter in a convincing manner by flogging the issue hard if they want results. After all, God is said to help those who help themselves.

Lucky are the rejects who are in the good books of their political masters promoting good governance.

Welcome to Sri Lanka, a land like no other!