Arrest this comedy of errors in the Parliament

Friday, 7 October 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

It is ridiculous and denigrating to observe that procedural errors are repeated when presenting important Bills such as the VAT Bill, which has become an Achilles heel for the Government. The negligence on the part of those responsible for these technical issues should be stopped forthwith and the wrongdoers should be punished to keep ‘Yahapalanaya’ on the tracks.

On the other hand it is a pity that politicians in the Opposition are merely fighting for ‘one-upmanship’ on important Bills that affect the country’s progress. We see the parliamentarians sneering at each other and behaving like children in a primary school! When we were children we gradually grew out of it, having realised that the real world was quite different. When will our parliamentarians learn this home truth?

What a bad example they set to the viewing millions! The parliamentarians expect us to believe that they are putting the needs of our country first but obviously they are more interested in scoring brownie points off each other, leading to wastage of precious time in Parliament and taxpayer money. Do they believe that they can impress intelligent voters with their tantrums and hysterics?

If I may digress a little, they refuse to listen to the voice of the people who are their paymasters. They engage in profligacy by allocating chunks of taxpayer money to engage international firms to improve the country’s image and satisfy the transport needs of public officials by providing luxury vehicles at exorbitant rentals. This is highly preposterous!

We exhort the party leaders to be more pragmatic and assess the cost-benefits of all their actions in the long run, keeping the country at the top of their agenda. We hope that the forthcoming budget will mirror the realisation of the people’s aspirations.

Bernard Fernando

Moratuwa