Most of the politicians in Sri Lanka are not given to public service.
This is because ‘service’ has acquired a menial connotation. In a complex society as today’s, we cannot produce by ourselves all that we require living a normal human life. Especially today, we cannot supply all our needs by ourselves alone; we depend on the fair and dependable commitment of others to their regular work or services for us to live our lives without too many challenging difficulties. All of us depend on one another. We cannot live justly and fairly without contributing according to our skill and capacity our share of work to the community, that is, to the lives of others and to the lives of those who are not able to support themselves due to some disability.
Political robots have had the misfortune of getting programmed with minds and attitudes of hate. Like automatons, they make irrational excuses undermining equality and for perpetuating bias and divisive discrimination. They cause the country to get mired in disunity and stagnation. One cannot live justly and fairly when one’s thought is filled with hate leading to hateful actions. This is why those who misuse things and abuse people are filled with disgust with all that they have misused and with themselves for misusing them, destroying others and themselves in the process.
New methods of education need to be evolved to build healthy hearts and minds and heal unhealthy ones to let them appreciate the meaning and consequential values of human dignity, equality and liberty.
Parliamentary sessions
They should be educated to think creatively to proceed through a transformative process to live a civilized life. Though we have been an Independent country for over seventy years, most of the ruling class have inherited or artificially put on and become wrapped up in a feudal mentality given over to leisurely lazy living, merely giving orders to others and enjoying the fruits of other peoples’ toil as if working for a living, to earn one’s bread with the sweat of one’s brow, with the striving of one’s own hands and minds were beneath their dignity. As a result, there are those who according to their capability is not proportionately, sufficiently or at all contributing their share to the development of the country and the well being of others.
Prominent political robots of parties with decrepit ideologies unconnected to the humanity of all the people of today’s society are among those who have put on this decadent and iniquitous feudal mentality. Most Sri Lankan politicians have divested themselves of their inherent humanity and polluted themselves with selfishness and dishonesty imprisoning themselves in the servitude of corruption.
It is due to this iniquitous, which means unequal and unjust mentality that politicians have surrounded themselves with privileges in an overblown manner foolishly claiming them to be their rights. This makes the politician far above the others, arrogating to themselves more than their rights and allowing others less than their due rights.
Thinking egoistically, they forcibly take over powers they are not vested with, break the law and intimidate the people. It is due to this incongruous and bizarre mentality that parliamentarians have arrogated to themselves a disproportionate range of privileges that cost the taxpaying citizens a vast expense. So they get for themselves several perks such as allowances for the attendance of parliamentary sessions, overblown housing rent, office and telephone expenses, entertainment and travelling expenses, highly subsidized meals, allowances to meet expenses supposed to be incurred in serving the people. Besides all these Ministers arrogate to themselves privileges peculiarly extended to each ministry.
Besides, there are also highly fraudulent transactions which bring in unaccountable incomes which are sometimes secretively hidden in foreign banks. All these get covered with an aura of legitimacy and contribute to raising the cost of living for the people.
The ‘privilege’ they should certainly enjoy is the right to speak freely inside the chamber of the House of Parliament. Just because they cannot be prosecuted for what they speak, they are morally bound to speak the truth and nothing but the truth in the assembly that is made august not only because it is the highest legislative assembly in the land but also because all that is expressed there are supposed to be true, reliable and honourable. And its purpose is to uphold justice for the people. If to protect the common good and the rights of all the people, certain individuals’ thievery, culpable incompetence and unacceptable public conduct have to be exposed and such individuals have to be accused of wrongdoing, such exposure of misconduct and accusation is a service done to the people and in the name of the people.
As everything said in the highest assembly is factual and relevant, it is presumed that nothing is said merely to hurt, disparage and ruin the character of anyone. That would be a breach of privilege whether it is accepted or not. However, the truth could hurt the wrong-doer.
But our politicians are so thick-skinned, that even after large-scale fraud and corruption they show no sense of guilt or shame. They astutely hide them and cleverly try to evade responsibility for their deeds even though they feel their cancerous leprosies continually consume them internally.
The iniquitous person hates his own being. Yet they could be human enough to be sensitive, acknowledge their wrongdoing and repent, like the ‘good thief’ on the cross to Jesus’ right who desired salvation. But their arrogance is such that they wish others to imagine them to be innocent among thieves, like Jesus Christ who died between two thieves! It is when they have been so insensitive as to abuse their power and deceive and swindle the people as a whole that they turn into hideous political robots and not servant leaders of the people. Servanthood is demeaning to these arrogant feudal-minded foxes sprung from the prototype and mould of King Herod. Their political parties are like ships irretrievably grounded on sand dunes. They are never guided by the stars of truth and justice, equality of all the people, freedom of thought, civilized expression and choice and openness to human enhancement.
Corrupt elements
In the circumstances, political party restructuring could turn out to be merely a formula for evasion of honesty, social justice, responsibility, accountability, and the rooting out of falsehood, inequality, self-indulgence and favouritism. That should not happen.
However much you reorganise and restructure, if the same old corrupt elements will manage the new structures in their habitual style they will find new ways to fend for themselves according to their base desires. Even to adopt a New Constitution is to basically change structures of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, to give them a more reliable new tone to make them effective in truth and justice and peoples’ well-being and to usher a renewed social culture.
Adopting a New Constitution is indeed a sine qua non to truly institute the sovereignty of the people and thus to meet their just aspirations of human dignity and rights of equality, freedom and honour based on truth, justice, solidarity and that peace which is the inheritance of those of goodwill and not of evil intent and conspiratorial scheming. Goodwill towards all the people is the prominent element absent among the politicians and the political environment of Sri Lanka. A superficial ‘hail fellow well-met’ type of passing camaraderie has no social depth nor is it durable goodwill.
But this insincere exhibitionistic manner of conduct by the cunning politicians often displayed to the public is what has so far prevented the adoption of a New Constitution that is just and fair by all the citizens of Sri Lanka.
Add new comment