A regrettable feature of South Asian politics is the emergence of criminals as representatives of the people. In the last Indian legislature, one third of the members were those with a criminal record, according to the Indian Association for Democratic Reforms. The criminal record of the parliament elected in March this year is not available yet. Other democracies in the region including Sri Lanka probably are no exceptions and we do not have a watchdog like in India to tell us who’s who.
Even though statistics are not available, the conduct of our honourable MPs at public places and even within their holiest of holies by the Diyawanna Lake gives us an indication of the quality of many of them.
With even parliamentary elections round the corner some have already thrown their hats into the ring and some of the announcements made are indeed ominous. Our electoral system is such that the candidates are selected by party leaders with or without consulting selection committees. Whether there are such selection committees in most parties is indeed a matter of grave doubt. Thus, it would be fair to hold party leaders for the criminal history or quality of candidates selected. This is indeed a flaw in our democratic process because party branches in electorates should have some say in the selection process. The voter should not be presented with a fait accompli on the ballot paper.
What does a voter do if the party he favours has nominated a known undesirable person to be his representative? Will he endorse this undesirable because of his loyalty to his party/ vote for another candidate of a rival party/ or spoil his ballot?
Given the state of politics in the country he has no option but to reject his party candidate and not vote for him and decide on the other two options. If the electorate by and large rejects the undesirable, it will make his party correct its ways.
It is true that a parliament can only reflect the state of society. Our society, however impoverished certain sections may be, are law abiding citizens with good moral standards. Those responsible for selection of candidates should aim to reflect such standards and not select dope dealers and the like who will be instrumental in selling drugs such as heroin to children. Political leaders will by inclination select candidates who are loyal to them. The second criterion will be the ability to win. This can be appreciated but the likely winners will be money bags and unless they are known to have earned their money honestly it can be well presumed that the largesse he is throwing about is ill-gotten gains.
Family politics seems to be a growing phenomenon in Lankan politics. There is nothing wrong if sons or daughters take after the illustrious footsteps of their fathers but what happens if a disreputable child attempts to follow a disreputable father whose record is even worse than him or hers? The obvious thing to do will be for voters to take action to prevent his nomination by making representations to the party leadership.
Sri Lankans have come a long way in the democratic process having been given the gift of universal franchise even before independence. Our parliament should comprise a set of representatives who should be a pride to the nation and not appear as a circus or a bunch of jokers. It will be the responsibility of party leaders to ensure the quality of members of their party.
In our open mouthed society everyone knows who the racketeers, dope smugglers, wheeler dealers and commission agents are. There should be no difficulty in identifying the black sheep attempting to creep into the new parliament.
It is time the constitution be amended so that each contesting party should adopt a process that would ensure criminal elements be kept out and basic education requirements are stipulated.
Even though statistics are not available, the conduct of our honourable MPs at public places and even within their holiest of holies by the Diyawanna Lake gives us an indication of the quality of many of them.
With even parliamentary elections round the corner some have already thrown their hats into the ring and some of the announcements made are indeed ominous. Our electoral system is such that the candidates are selected by party leaders with or without consulting selection committees. Whether there are such selection committees in most parties is indeed a matter of grave doubt. Thus, it would be fair to hold party leaders for the criminal history or quality of candidates selected. This is indeed a flaw in our democratic process because party branches in electorates should have some say in the selection process. The voter should not be presented with a fait accompli on the ballot paper.
What does a voter do if the party he favours has nominated a known undesirable person to be his representative? Will he endorse this undesirable because of his loyalty to his party/ vote for another candidate of a rival party/ or spoil his ballot?
Given the state of politics in the country he has no option but to reject his party candidate and not vote for him and decide on the other two options. If the electorate by and large rejects the undesirable, it will make his party correct its ways.
It is true that a parliament can only reflect the state of society. Our society, however impoverished certain sections may be, are law abiding citizens with good moral standards. Those responsible for selection of candidates should aim to reflect such standards and not select dope dealers and the like who will be instrumental in selling drugs such as heroin to children. Political leaders will by inclination select candidates who are loyal to them. The second criterion will be the ability to win. This can be appreciated but the likely winners will be money bags and unless they are known to have earned their money honestly it can be well presumed that the largesse he is throwing about is ill-gotten gains.
Family politics seems to be a growing phenomenon in Lankan politics. There is nothing wrong if sons or daughters take after the illustrious footsteps of their fathers but what happens if a disreputable child attempts to follow a disreputable father whose record is even worse than him or hers? The obvious thing to do will be for voters to take action to prevent his nomination by making representations to the party leadership.
Sri Lankans have come a long way in the democratic process having been given the gift of universal franchise even before independence. Our parliament should comprise a set of representatives who should be a pride to the nation and not appear as a circus or a bunch of jokers. It will be the responsibility of party leaders to ensure the quality of members of their party.
In our open mouthed society everyone knows who the racketeers, dope smugglers, wheeler dealers and commission agents are. There should be no difficulty in identifying the black sheep attempting to creep into the new parliament.
It is time the constitution be amended so that each contesting party should adopt a process that would ensure criminal elements be kept out and basic education requirements are stipulated.