Friday 22nd September, 2023

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday created quite a stir in Parliament by demanding to know why President Ranil Wickremesinghe had taken some SLPP MPs to New York. Premadasa said those who were responsible for bankrupting the country must not be allowed to junket at the expense of taxpayers. He must have struck a responsive chord with the irate public, but going by his line of reasoning, the question is whether any member of the current Parliament can be considered eligible to accompany the President during his foreign visits. All the MPs are responsible, albeit to varying degrees, for the country’s bankruptcy caused by unsustainable debt, which accumulated under successive governments.

All governments, after 1977, borrowed heavily from both domestic and foreign sources, making the country’s debt unsustainable, and mismanaged the economy. They allowed their members and cronies to indulge in corruption and steal public funds, and did nothing to prevent the waste of state resources. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government, which was characterised by mismanagement, inefficiency, corruption and waste, precipitated the economic collapse, which would otherwise have taken a few more years to manifest itself.

Thus, all those who were members of the governments led by the UNP or the SLFP, and the SLPP MPs are responsible for the current economic mess. The same goes for the MPs who supported terrorism, which bled billions of rupees, if not dollars, from the national economy for years, and drove investors and foreign tourists away, thereby severely retarding the country’s economic growth.

Most MPs, including those who craftily marketed Gotabaya as a messiah and duped the public into voting for him, have sought to absolve themselves of the blame for the current economic crisis by claiming that they were not aware that the country was heading for bankruptcy, and nobody warned them. But is there any need for anyone to provide these self-proclaimed mavens with such information? They are known for their economic punditry, aren’t they?

On listening to our legislators, who speak very authoritatively on virtually anything either in Parliament or elsewhere, one wonders whether they are omniscient. Some of them would have the public believe that they have found out what the police and special committees and commissions have failed to ascertain all these years; they claim to be aware of who masterminded the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks!

Besides, they play the roles of prosecutors and judges and conduct trials in the House, to all intents and purposes, although the Constitution says the judicial power of the People shall be exercised by Parliament through courts, tribunals, etc., except in regard to matters relating to the privileges, immunities and powers of Parliament and of its Members. While claiming to be so knowledgeable and usurping the powers of other institutions, these worthies have had the audacity to claim that they were not aware that the economy was nosediving and the country was heading for bankruptcy!

Even some SLPP dissidents including former Cabinet ministers have claimed that they had been kept in the dark about the state of the economy, and the declaration of the country’s bankruptcy came as a surprise to them! Among them are some experts who never miss an opportunity to parade their knowledge of economic and financial affairs. Their claim is tantamount to a confession that they neglected their legislative duties and functions, and did not keep a watchful eye on the economy. Will they be able to convince the public that they are capable of managing the economy better?

One cannot but fully endorse the Opposition Leader’s demand that no MP who is responsible for the country’s bankruptcy be allowed to spend public funds on foreign junkets.