CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Of Budgets & Politics-Whither Sri Lanka?

By Darmitha-Kotte

The ordeal of Budget voting at the 3rd reading finally came to a head on 14th December 2007 with the pro-government forces willing by a majority of 47 votes. The Opposition headed by UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe suffered their 15th defeat which should truly open the eyes of Mr. Wickramasinghe if he wishes to remain in mainstream politics and be of service to Sri Lanka. Most fortunately ofcourse, his long time school mate and buddy Mr. Anura Bandaranaike as usual crossed to the Opposition at the wrong time and proved that he too has no vision of what his role is in Sri Lankan politics! The saying "birds of a feather flock together" truly exhibited its emptiness for the entire country and world to witness.

With all the lobbying and possibly handsome rewards for those who voted with the government, and also the massive anti-government campaigns organized by the UNP where Mr. Wickramasinghe who probably has never gone "marketing" in his life spent every week-end at "Sathipola" attempting to show innocent citizens how concerned he was about the COL going up, no doubt intelligent citizens had entertainment all round, watching the fun! Quite a few Ministers of the Mahinda Rajapakse government also crossed to the opposition at the wrong time "expressing their displeasure at discrimination" against Muslims and National Heritage activities!

The August House of Parliament has been losing its luster since 1994 with many unsavoury examples of utterly low level behaviour of parliamentarians who now think that the most heroic act to show their displeasure about proceedings- is to hijack the Mace. Irresponsible, rowdy behaviour must be stopped in 2007 and 2008 must necessarily see a better exhibition of decency and morality among the politicians at all levels. National security and end to terrorism in Sri Lanka, national economic policies, stable health, education and transport policies must all take priority as against thuggery, corruption and mayhem. We Sri Lankans are getting tired of silly childish behaviour of our elected nominees who are supposedly in parliament to safeguard our interests. Most of them have shown that they have absolutely no interest in putting the country before self-serving interests, have exhibited their extravagance at the expense of The State and proved that they require vehicles not to travel from one destination to another in the service of the nation but, that they must have the most luxury vehicle available in the World Market at Duty Free costs, for them to behave like idiots with inferiority complexes! They even need to be paid a special allowance for every day they attend parliament for which they were originally elected by the people! Do these things sound ethical and patriotic to any decent mind?

Irrespective of which colour or party one supports, all decent citizens of this country with a genuine love for Sri Lanka and the national security at heart, it has been utterly disheartening to watch how politicians with vested interests have been working hand-in-glove with foreign governments, non-governmental (both local and international) organizations, conspiring with the LTTE terrorists and supporting them with only one aim in mind and that is, to destabilize Sri Lanka, interfere in our internal affairs by dictating terms to us on how we must govern our country totally disregarding the cultural heritage and national problems-the sum total being that they have absolute disregard for nationalistic and patriotic sentiments of the majority population of this country. "Majority population" does not mean the Sinhalese or Buddhists but the majority population consisting of all races and religions that yearns for an end to terrorism and return of peace and harmony in this country as well as a stable environment for the younger generation of this country. Manipulations by various political and economic groups must stop and politicians must prove their worthiness by their actions rather than their rhetoric which is now a disgrace.

No matter which government is in power, corruption and immorality cannot be condoned and must be checked and those found guilty must be punished without discrimination or favouration! They must be condemned publicly. Impartiality and justice is the most needed criteria as well as phenomenon in this beautiful country. Can we ever hope for such dreams or visions for this country of ours called SRI LANKA?

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