Dr Sudath Gunasekara. Mahanuwara (SLAS) President Senior Citizens Movement Mahanuwara

5.9.2015.

Mr. President and Mr. Prime Minister please name and gazette all the 225 Members of Parliament, both elected (196) and selected by you under the so-called national list (29), immediately as Cabinet Ministers without wasting your valuable time and energy over such a tedious and haggling job for the good health, wealth, prosperity and happiness of all politicians in this country. I have the least doubt that both of you will have the Blessings of the Mahanayaka Theras of Malwatta and Asgiriya as well, even if you don’t pay your usual deceptive political courtesy call on them for this unique state of the art in state craft, adittha, asutha and apatisannkatha in the whole world, even to the envy of Kautilya and Machiavelli who might try to turn in their graves in shame.

That will make all 225 MPP in Parliament, Ministers overnight whether they are in the Government or not and will also make them happy and gay, fully satisfied so that no Government in future will ever have any opposition within Parliament. That will also have no semantic confusion as the term Minister could also be used for a man who is not in charge of a state department but still having Cabinet rank. That will also take away the generally perceived subordinate mentality of one not being a Cabinet Minister. Then you don’t have to differentiate between Cabinet and non-Cabinet, State and Deputy Ministers either.  The only assurance you need to give them is that they will get the same salary and privileges and benefits and perks to enjoy life whether serve the people or not. Regarding money to meet additional expenditure too you need not worry. After all it is not your money no. There is the Treasury and the Central Bank that will look after the problem. You yourself being financial wizards we need not try to bother you on that either. Public protest by any? What nonsense. ‘Public’ in this country is not a word worthy of discussing any more as it has been murdered and buried not feet but miles below long time ago.

Those who watch you from outside know that you have restored Democracy and good governance in this country. You know better than we do what form of democracy we have and also you may know it better than I do that it was an ‘American genius who has defined Democracy, to our delight, as a form of government where a pack of few cunning foxes rule over a large herd of Assess’ So gentlemen be rest assured that you will have neither international nor domestic interference in whatever you do under the current system.

Moreover why call one man Cabinet, another State and a third a Deputy and create unnecessary displeasure and heart burning among your colleagues, when each one is equally valuable for you to remain in power.

It is common sense that all politicians, particularly in this country, don’t do politics to serve the people, though they publicly pretend to do and actually say so. Everybody knows they do it purely for their own benefit. Political office is power, wealth and personal aggrandizement. Politics is so corrupt and become so personal to politicians, everyone knows that what we call Government in this country in recent times has pathetically got reduced to a system of ‘Government by the politicians, for the politicians and of the politicians’ only. This had been particularly so after 1977. For example look at the Act number 1 passed by the new Government in 1977. It was the Pension Act for Politicians, passed unanimously violating the provisions of the Govt Pension Act.  Mind you unlike the public servants they could get a full pension after five years. Thereafter the Dharmista Government increased their salaries and all perks, their powers and privileges and benefits like personal staff, official vehicles duty free vehicles every five years and their control over Government finance and control over the whole machinery of governance by completely politicizing the entire state apparatus both public and corporate sector. In addition to increasing the number of Ministers in the centre they also created 25 additional District Minister posts to the 25 Districts.

So today in this country politics has firmly settled down to plain and simple realpolitik’ (politics based on realities and material needs of political power rather than on morals or ideals) rather than an art and science of government. As such the stage for immoral and unethical politics is a readymade bullet proof jacket you have inherited from your predecessors. Therefore you don’t have to worry or care a damn for public opinion as you are not at fault. Today you are the final word on democracy, justice, fair play, yahapalanaya and every other thing under the sun in this country. You know the difference between what is right and what is wrong for the people of this country more than anyone else and you know how to rule for which you have already  got a mandate.

That is why honestly I thought of making this request from the two of you on behalf of the whole nation after much serious deliberations for the convenience and good health of everybody, including the lucky politicians, members of their families and the hapless and betrayed general public, of course in good faith, to do away with further heart burning, frustration and confusion for everybody.

But I have one big grievance. That is, as I could remember, if you can recall, one of the main allegations against the Rajapaksa regime, to use your pet word, was that it maintained a jumbo Cabinet at enormous cost to the country just to retain the required numbers for the survival of the Government. You promised to reduce it to win the elections. Not that you liked or you did not visualize the difficulties, but to win January elections you had to do it. Before the General elections under tremendous public pressure you had to agree to limit the Cabinet to 30 Ministries by the 19^th Amendment. But by a motion in Parliament last week you increased it to 48 Cabinet Ministers and 45 non-Cabinet Ministers making the total 93, that is three time + 3 bigger than the number promised to people before the elections, saying that Parliament has the power to do so. If that is so the same Parliament can definitely increase it further making it even 150 or more whenever you want to do so. Aren’t they the same men and women who sat on these chairs in Parliament who voted for 30 and no more? They might call it now parliamentary privilege. Whom are you trying to fool? This is my million Dollar question to you Hon MPP who jointly and singularly take this country to a no-return situation.

But again breaching promises or deceiving people should never be a problem for a Prince or a ruler because,

‘A prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honour his word when it places him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made his promise no longer exist’, so said Machiavelli.

I think his words are more appropriate to the politicians of this country today than to the medieval Europe or any other country in this whole world.

Latest news in Saturday Island.  5. 9. 2015

Saturday   5th 

New MPs to get duty free vehicle permits shortly. Recipients entitled to USD 50,000 loan

Congratulations! Carry on Mr. President and Prime Minister. Why not make hay while the sun shines?

Let the dogs bark but the caravan will move on!