The electoral system too needs to change
Dayasiri Jayasekara
Member of Parliament – Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)
In the current context of the country, the first thing that is mentioned is that 225 parliamentarians are not required. There, the main predicament is that this is a call made by some people at the protest site and not necessarily a clarion call from the entire country. Similarly, this current group of 225 was elected after the 225 parliamentarians were rejected in 2019 with the sentiments that the parliament should be bombed with all 225 members in it. However, it is the 225 elected after this saga in 2019 that are being asked to leave.
Actually, this is not a problem of a special number, I see it as an issue of trust and respect of the appointed representative, the conduct in parliament and the confusion as to what actually the representative is involved in once elected. The second issue is the rejection of the way politics have operated for the past 74 years. I see this as a conflict that emerged after the introduction of the open economy in 1977 and not as a problem of 74 years. Corruption was minimised in the governments before 1977 and the people were not as morally
corrupt.
We know that when C.W.W. Kannangara died, he was receiving a token payment. It was a society with the calibre of such politicians that suffered a major setback after 1977 with the introduction of the proportional representation electoral system and the open economy. Therefore, I believe that this is a situation that escalated over the political history spanning the last 40 years.
Proposal for a National Assembly A key suggestion that came forth from those involved in the agitation was the formation of a national assembly parallel to the parliament and the Cabinet, composed of professionals and the state should be governed taking into due consideration their suggestions and criticisms. This is similar to what we have also suggested. We have suggested that just as we are appointed to parliament, there should be a council that would consider the proposals of the professionals, and enable the exchange of ideas and wider discourse, in order to engage them in the governance mechanism. We see
this as a matter that is being discussed with a degree of a value proposition. As the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, our organizers are not appointed by the leader.
There are certain processes before the leader gives the letter. Because there is an interview panel, people come to that panel and their information is discussed and that is where we select the organizers for each seat. The party leader appointing a person is not a reasonable method. A big accusation from the people is that the list does not contain good candidates to choose at an election to cast their vote. In some districts, thieves, robbers, people accused of corruption, uneducated and people involved in various vices are part of the candidates’ lists. This is a serious matter, that there are no good candidates for the public to choose from.
We need candidates that can be accepted As political parties, we all have a responsibility to nominate people who are accepted by society. When people who have been accused of corruption, committed murder or accused of murder are nominated through a candidate list, the people do not have an opportunity to make a reasonable choice.
We are currently discussing several related issues at present. In the case of a constitutional amendment, the current electoral system should be reformed in line with what has been stated above. We are also discussing this matter and have presented a number of proposals. Representative democracy will be strengthened only by reinforcing the electoral reform process. I believe that the aspiration of the agitators can be achieved to some extent through this process.
Voice of Citizens
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