Author: TELO Admin

The Secretary General of Parliament, Mrs. Kushani Rohanadheera, clarified that a Member of Parliament (MP) is not paid a salary but is entitled to an allowance.

Joining the Ada Derana’s current affairs programme ‘BIG FOCUS’, she explained that currently an MP is entitled to an allowance of almost Rs. 54,000.

Apart from this, they are also entitled to an attendance allowance of Rs 2,500 for the days when parliamentary sessions are held and an allowance of Rs 2,500 for attending committee meetings held on days when the parliamentary sessions are not held.

She mentioned that the fuel allowance is based on the distance, which is calculated according to a formula.

Mrs. Rohanadheera also noted that MPs who do not have a house within 40 kilometers from the Parliament are eligible to apply for accommodations in the parliamentary housing complex in Madiwela.

The housing complex includes only a total of 108 houses, which are allocated based on the order of requests submitted by the ruling party and the opposition.

Secretary General of the Parliament added that the MPs residing in these houses pay a monthly rent of Rs. 2,000, with electricity and water bills borne by the MPs themselves.

Furthermore, she highlighted that the Parliament and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs have facilitated the reduction of the amount from allowances by providing them the medical facilities from the Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital, and mentioned that the relevant ministry will also bear the necessary allowances for the personal staff of the MPs.

The NPP, the ITAK and the Sarvajana Balaya have appointed defeated candidates to Parliament via the National List (NL), making a mockery of their much-avowed commitment to democratic best practices. This has been the name of the game in Sri Lankan politics all these years and one of the main reasons for the erosion of public trust in the electoral process.

The NPP deserves praise for the appointment of a person with a visual disability to Parliament for the first time in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary history. It has fulfilled a long-felt need. Sadly, it has added not just a smidgeon but a scoop of cow dung to the proverbial pot of milk by appointing two of its defeated candidates as NL MPs.

It is said that in this country, in times of yore, some men were tricked into marrying not-so-attractive elder sisters of the women they were betrothed to. Times have changed and this kind of trickery is no longer heard of in matrimonial affairs, but a similar practice prevails in Sri Lankan politics; individuals other than those presented as NL nominees to electors are appointed MPs, and, worse, even total outsiders are brought in to fill NL vacancies, which are often created artificially.

Strangely, the Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act provide for undermining the people’s franchise in this despicable manner. As we have pointed out in previous editorial comments, Article 99A of the Constitution allows ‘the persons whose names are included in the lists submitted to the Commissioner of Elections … or in any nomination paper submitted in respect of any electoral district by political parties or independent groups at that election’ to be appointed to Parliament via the NL. In 1988, the then UNP government introduced Section 64 (5) of the Parliament Election Act, inter alia, as an urgent Bill, eroding the essence of the constitutional provisions pertaining to the NL.

The Parliamentary Elections Act of No 1 of 1981, as amended in 1988, allows ‘any member’ of a political party to be appointed to fill an NL vacancy. After parliamentary elections, political parties appoint their NL members, as prescribed by the Constitution, and thereafter engineer NL vacancies to bring in persons of their choice as MPs. It is not possible to have this highly undemocratic practice terminated by judicial means because there is no constitutional provision for the post-enactment judicial review of legislation. This ‘smuggling tunnel’, as it were, must be closed by Parliament itself.

Worryingly, it has now been revealed that the words, ‘any member’, were surreptitiously incorporated into the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act after its ratification by Parliament in 1988!

Not everything the Constitution and other laws provide for is morally right and acceptable. The 18th constitutional amendment, which enhanced the executive powers of the President and removed the presidential term limit, had to be abolished because it was found to be detrimental to democracy. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution was done away with on the same grounds. Therefore, the flawed legal provisions that undermine the people’s franchise and sovereignty must be scrapped without further delay.

We suggest that Article 99A of the Constitution be amended to scrap the phrase, ‘in any nomination paper submitted in respect of any electoral district by political parties or independent groups’, and the words, ‘any member’ be removed from the Parliamentary Elections Act. This is something the NPP, which came to power, promising good governance, ought to do on a priority basis.

Given the shameful NL appointments at issue, it may not be difficult to imagine what the situation would have been if there had been no preferential vote mechanism; political party leaders would have had carte blanche to ensure the entry of unsuccessful candidates in their good books into Parliament at the expense of the deserving ones against the will of the people. That would have led to what is called the dictatorship of party leaders. Needless to say, an electoral process based on the proportional representation system without provision for voters to indicate their preferences for candidates will be antithetical to democracy. Hence the need to defeat efforts being made in some quarters to abolish the preferential vote.

The Election Commission is scheduled to reconvene a meeting on November 27 to deliberate on matters concerning the Local Government and Provincial Council elections.

Accordingly, it will be the commission’s first meeting since the conclusion of the parliamentary election.

A court order pertaining to the holding of the Local Government Election has already been issued, and the commission’s primary focus during the meeting will be to address matters related to this directive.

It has been further reported that the financial allocations required for both the Local Government and Provincial Council elections will be incorporated into the Vote on Account, scheduled to be presented to the Parliament in December.

Although it has been decided to allocate funds for these elections, a final decision regarding the dates of the polls has not yet been determined. This matter is expected to be a key agenda item during the forthcoming meeting.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has informed political parties that are yet to submit their National List MP nominees to do so without further delay.

As of yesterday (17), the commission has already gazetted the National List MP nominees submitted by several political parties.

The Sri Lankan Army says it has implemented quarantine measures for soldiers at the army camp in the Veditalativu area in Mannar, following a flu outbreak among a group of army personnel.

Sri Lanka Army spokesperson confirmed that around 25 soldiers have contracted the flu, with several requiring hospitalization. One soldier has been transferred to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH) for advanced treatment.

In response to the outbreak, the Mannar health officials have taken steps to quarantine nearly 500 soldiers within the camp itself to control the spread of the viral flu.

The flu outbreak, which had commenced from November 11, continues to be closely monitored by health and military authorities to ensure effective containment and timely medical intervention.

Dr. Harini Amarasuriya was sworn-in before President Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, a short while ago.

The swearing-in ceremony of the Cabinet of Ministers is currently underway at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.

She has also been appointed as the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education.