The incident which occurred in Parliament recently should be discussed at length and the truth about it disclosed to the country, so as to correct shortcomings or wrongs and thereby set an example to the nation, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
Although politicians should try to be role models, unfortunately the present Parliament does not provide anything exemplary to the nation, he said.
The Prime Minister was speaking at the opening of a new three-storeyed school building at Karandeniya Madya Maha Vidyalaya and an educational exhibition organised by its students to mark the school’s 75th anniversary, on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister said the behaviour of certain MPs during the recent incident in Parliament was akin to the unruly behaviour of students after a school cricket match. Those unruly MPs should feel ashamed, since it did not provide any good example to the nation.
The Premier said no Parliamentarian involved in that incident had accepted guilt so far. In such a situation, he even wondered whether it would be fitting for him to give advice to the gathering of schoolchildren present in his capacity as a Member of that Parliament.
If this incident was swept under the carpet, it would be disastrous for the country. So, however shameful it would be, all of them should discuss this matter at length and reveal the truth as to what happened to the nation, he said.
The Prime Minister said various views were exchanged over social media by students and by youth about this incident. If there were shortcomings and wrongs among them as Parliamentarians, they should be discussed at length and corrected. If not, democratic politics would be lost to the nation.
The Premier said on his arrival at the school premises, he observed that there was a good code of ethics among the student population. As Parliamentarians, they themselves had a code of ethics, but at times, he asked himself as to what had happened to it.
He said in certain countries, codes of ethics were implemented on a legal basis. Some other countries had appointed commissioners to create awareness about their codes of ethics. They create awareness among Parliamentarians by submitting various reports.
Recently, a group of MPs in the UK Parliament were strictly warned not to attend Parliament inebriated. Sometimes we too may have to take such stern action in future. Just as the Maha Sangha had a Vinaya Pitakaya (code of discipline), Parliamentarians have a set of standing orders which they had to strictly observe and adhere to, the Premier said.
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