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By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham
Colombo, October 12: That the 2024 parliamentary election is going to be held at a time when there is an increased interest among people to elect those who are truly interested in the well- being of the people is noteworthy.
People have great expectations from the National People’s Power (NPP ) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who has come to power after winning the Presidential election promising to eradicate misrule and corruption and create a new political culture.
By rejecting the old mainstream political parties that represented the traditional political ruling class and electing a left-wing movement leader with a humble family background as Executive President, Dissanayake has a huge responsibility to properly understand the desire for change expressed by the people and run his administration. The challenges for him are enormous.
He expects the people to extend their fullest cooperation in forming a stable government by giving a landslide victory to the NPP in the parliamentary elections. The steps his government has taken in the three weeks since assuming office have demonstrated his commitment to running a corruption-free administration.
There are plenty of signs that the people are ready to give more support to the NPP in the parliamentary elections than they did to Dissanayake in the Presidential election. Arguments are also raging as to whether or not the NPP will get two-thirds majority in Parliament.
There are those who have said that it is impossible for the NPP to get an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections based on the votes received by Dissanayake and the other two main candidates in the presidential election. Meanwhile, some others warn that a two-thirds majority in parliament for the President’s party could be dangerous.
But looking at the present political situation, whether or not the NPP will get a two-thirds majority depends largely on how the people view the candidates the party have fielded in the districts. The process of accepting nomination papers was completed last Friday.
Tilvin Silva, general secretary of Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), the flagship party of the NPP, said that they have fielded corruption-free candidates with good education and experience in all electoral districts.
“Most of the candidates we have fielded are new to politics. The new Parliament will have new faces and a different team. We request the people of the country to have faith in them. Our candidate lists include academicians, professional experts and prominent people from minority communities,” he added.
The question arises as to whether the people will give overwhelming support to newcomers who have not been known in the public domain. But in a situation where the people are strongly resentful of politicians who have been in office for a long time, they are more likely to show interest in electing new people.
It can be expected that people will vote again in a way that shows their confidence in President Dissanayake. People will definitely remember the antics of parliamentarians in the past. There was also a period when the Speaker disallowed school children from observing proceedings of the House.
It is well remembered that former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga once said among students that people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs make their business by producing them and earn a lot of money and eventually enter Parliament.
Many politicians are not contesting the parliamentary elections this time, fearing that the people would surely reject them. More than thirty-five of those who served in the dissolved parliament have not sought re-election. Meanwhile, some have announced their retirement from politics.
Parties like Vimal Veerawansa’ s National Freedom Front (NFF ) and Champika Ranawaka’s United Republic Front have stayed away from the election.
Some politicians do not want to retire from politics even in old age, and some younger politicians have decided to come back to Parliament through the national list of their respective parties.
As the NPP has fielded a large number of new candidates, other political parties were also forced to exercise extreme caution in selecting their candidates. But the old mainstream parties have not been able to field newcomers in large numbers. Newcomers did not show interest in contesting through those parties. So the candidate lists of those parties are mostly full of old faces.
Civil society organizations have already warned that the main parties risk being completely rejected by the people and become history if they do not field the right candidates as people are determined to vote against the corrupt political culture.
We have seen some politicians received more preferential votes than other candidates in the list and got elected to parliament even while under remand custody on murder and rape charges. Party leaders needed such unscrupulous persons in politics where money power and muscle power prevailed. That is the main reason why underworld gangs influence at the highest political level.
Many members of Parliament, the highest legislative body of the country, were unable to understand the laws being passed in the House and were unable to contribute meaningfully to parliamentary debates. They supported bills or resolutions in the House simply out of blind loyalty to the President.
Over the past two decades we have seen parliamentarians who have willingly supported five constitutional amendments that have alternately reduced and increased the powers of the Executive Presidency. Among them were some legal experts of international fame.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa introduced an unhealthy practice in the 2015 parliamentary elections by re-entering politics as an ordinary member of parliament after holding the country’s highest executive office, the Presidency. Following him, another former president, Maithripala Sirisena, also contested the 2020 election and came to Parliament.
There are currently five former Presidents in the country. Among them Mrs. Kumaratunga never tried to enter Parliament even though she showed interest in politics after stepping down from the Presidency. None of the others are contesting the parliamentary elections this time. The Rajapaksa brothers are not contesting in this election knowing well that people in their own district Hambantota will reject them. ))
At the Presidential election, Sri Lanka Podujana Peranuna (SLPP ) candidate Namal Rajapaksa was unable to win any the electorates in the district.
We can definitely expect more politicians to announce their retirement after the parliamentary elections.
Politicians have blamed people for their misrule. No one would have forgotten what former finance minister and the founder of the SLPP told a media conference after resigning his membership from Parliament in June 8, 2022 at the height of the people’s uprising. He said that people who voted for and brought them to power should also take responsibility for the economic and political crises. What an arrogant and insensitive statement!
While it is not acceptable for corrupt politicians to blame people for their blunders, there is no denying the fact that time and again people have elected wrong rulers. The results of the presidential election clearly reflected a change in the political thinking of the people after the popular uprising of 2022.
Against this backdrop, there are clear signs that people will take a more sensible decision in the upcoming parliamentary elections. People should elect not only persons of integrity, but also people with knowledge of parliamentary affairs who can make constructive contributions to the policy-making process.
This time the parliamentary elections are a good opportunity for people to make their contribution in a sensible manner to clean up public life.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)
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