Viands and red herring

Monday 31st August, 2020

It is wrong to say that the government MPs and their Opposition counterparts are perennially at daggers drawn and go for one another’s jugular at the drop of a hat. There are moments of unity, when they get on like a house on fire. We have recently witnessed such a moment. The SJB and SLPP MPs sank their differences and took exception to a newspaper report that a meal costing as much as Rs. 3,000 was sold at Rs. 100 in the parliament canteen. They let out a howl of protest, in unison, alleging that such claims caused an affront to the dignity of Parliament and cast the MPs in a poor light.

We loathe discussing what other people eat, but Parliament must be careful with people’s money. The MPs should share the suffering of their electors, who are struggling to keep the wolf from the door. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a large number of job losses and many people are in penury.

The least the MPs can do is to emulate President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who leads a very simple life. The parlous state of the economy warrants frugal economic management and sacrifices. The Opposition has rightly pointed out that the powers anent public finance have been vested in the legislature. Parliament, therefore, ought to set an example to others by paring the cost of its maintenance to the bone.

The parliament food issue is a red herring, we reckon. It is not the cost of the assortment of choicest viands the MPs partake of, at heavily subsidised rates, that has turned public opinion against Parliament. No outsider could ever bring Parliament into disrepute more; the MPs themselves have tarnished the image of the legislature beyond repair over the last several decades.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has said he will put the food issue to rest by revealing the actual costs of meals served in the parliament canteens. Welcome as his pledge may be, more information should be divulged about Parliament and its members.

How much does a parliamentary sitting cost the taxpayer? Various amounts are being bandied about, and an official figure is called for. What has been the MPs’ turnout during the last 10 years or so? How long is an MP required to be in his seat or at committee meetings? Public officials paid with state funds face disciplinary inquiries and punishment for not reporting to work without prior notice. What action is taken against the MPs who scoot away or do not turn up in Parliament without applying for leave? Import restrictions have caused numerous hardships to the public, who, however, faces them without grumbling, given the country’s balance of payment woes. There is a pressing need to shore up the country’s foreign reserves. The outflow of foreign exchange has to be curtailed. Will the MPs be allowed to import duty-free vehicles at this juncture? How much is the duty concession an MP is entitled to? How much do the MPs get by way of bank loans for importing their vehicles? What is the interest rate as well as the payback period? Have the members of previous Parliaments paid back their vehicle loans in full? How many MPs have sold their duty-free vehicle permits and how much have they raised therefrom? What are the educational qualifications of the members of the current Parliament, especially the ministers? How many MPs have criminal charges against them? There were allegations that some elderly MPs sexually harassed their female counterparts in the last Parliament. The then Speaker Karu Jayasuriya promised to look into them and requested the victims to make formal complaints. Was an inquiry held?

Meanwhile, the incumbent Speaker finds himself in an unenviable position. There are some new faces in the House, but most of those who incurred public opprobrium due to their misconduct in the last Parliament have been re-elected. The gargantuan task before the new Speaker is to make them fall in line. Easier said than done because of the steamroller majority the government has secured! Let the good Speaker be wished good luck.