Our lawmakers not honourable anymore

Dear Parliamentarians,
I cannot address you as Honourable Parliamentarians as per protocol for the simple reason none of you are honourable. You have lost your honour by continuing to remain in the current failed, irrelevant, impotent and useless white elephant of a parliament. In the present bankrupt, tragic and dangerous situation of the country, an honest and an honourable politician will resign the membership of such a parliament and join the people in their struggle; at least, to get back to the lifestyle (though still unsatisfactory) that was ante the current utterly failed Rajapaksa regime.

This letter is deliberately not addressed to your boss for if he cannot understand the two words “Go home”, the message and the demand of practically the whole country, how can he understand a letter of a few hundred words?

Let me explain to you what I mean by a failed, irrelevant, impotent and useless white elephant or your parliament. During the last 30 months can you show anything positive or successful that your parliament has achieved? You are lawmakers. Did you pass any law beneficial to the people or the country? One law was to allow dual citizens to become parliamentarians.

We got a dual citizen Finance Minister who quickly sold underhand the Kerawalapitiya power plant in the dead of the night to a shady American company. The Treasury began to dwindle. Then, you approved the 20th Amendment and made your President all powerful, and yourselves an impotent parliament. Recently, you amended a law to make unsolicited projects in the power sector to hand over wind power generation to an Indian company, without calling for tenders. And the chairman of the CEB let the cat out of the bag revealing to the whole world about Modi, Adani and Rajapaksa.

The management of the Covid pandemic was easy as we are a small island nation. But you first denied it, then like idiots tried to stop a pandemic with a Dammika peniya and throwing pots in the river. As there are no limits to your stupidity, we ended up with over 15,000 deaths. But, of course, your cronies made billions with RAT kits overpriced, black marketed vaccines, and exorbitant and compulsory quarantine hotel rackets. Yes, when it comes to rackets, deals and all kinds of thievery you are very successful.Then, gas cylinders exploded killing people and destroying their houses. What did the Parliament do? Nothing. Not a word of condolence. There were many such rackets like the sugar tax racket, the oil racket, the garlic racket, etc. People had to line up in queues for petrol, diesel, milk powder and passports. Nine senior citizens died standing in queues. Never a minute of silence in sympathy for them in the Parliament.

And, finally, the sudden halting of all imports of fertiliser and insecticides by a presidential decree was the coup de grace to Mother Lanka. She is weak. Agriculture is the very life of this island nation. Now, it is being strangled to death. The prospects of food shortages and starvation are frightening. Among the 22 million population of this country, the stupidest, most ignorant and most foolish moron is at the top; there is no doubt about it.

Dear Parliamentarians,
The above short description is enough for you to understand why your august assembly is a white elephant. In contrast, the Aragalaya – that the farmers started in our villages and paddy fields – came to Colombo Galle Face on the 09 April right in front of the Presidential Secretariat. It went from strength to strength till the 09 May, when they were attacked by the Prime Minister’s goons.

Now, this “Aragalaya” is the unique locus where the voice of the people is heard, respected and becomes meaningful. The voices in the Diyawannawa mansion are no more meaningful to the people, rather they are threatening the very survival of this country. It is this Parliament that brought the nation to its knees.

Your Parliament is destroying the country. All of you, whatever the party you belong to either in the government or in the Opposition, or a fence sitting independent, are destroying our motherland, its sovereignty, its wealth and its people. If you have any shame and a conscience you will resign your seat, and even your party, and stand with the people at the Aragalaya. But if your salary, perks and privileges (and a bribe here and a commission there) are more important to you than the country, you are certainly neither honourable nor honest. You are only parasites stealing the food out of the mouth of the people, driving them to poverty, starvation and death.

That is why all the 225 of you cannot be addressed as Honourable Members of Parliament as long as you continue to remain in that failed, irrelevant, impotent and useless white elephant of an assembly. May you receive the light to see the ugly truth, and the courage to take a brave decision!

You will not regret it.
Fr J.C. PIERIS