Electoral system needs extensive reforms - Dr. Rajitha Senaratne

By Uditha KUMARASINGHE

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said it is high time to change the present PR system and have a Member of Parliament for each electorate who will be responsible to the people. The Minister told the Sunday Observer that the businessmen have become the number one candidates in elections as they spend hundreds of millions of rupees to enter Parliament. They are not politicians at all but mere businessmen. When they are elected to Parliament, they try to earn the money spent for the campaign because they are doing business. This would lead the country to disaster. This is what has happened today.

Dr. Senaratne said sometimes a party member is killed by another of the same party. How to secure a bigger post and how to earn more money have become more important in today’s politics. The days have completely gone for the common man to enter Parliament due to this system. It should be changed as early as possible. Parliament should be open to the common people such as M.S. Themis, a peon of the General Post Office who won a seat in the 1956 general election or A.U. Romanis who entered parliament from the Kurunegala district. It was teachers and Ayurvedic physicians, who entered Parliament those days. So the Parliament should be open to such people once again so that we will have more and more gentlemen in Parliament.

Commenting on the university dons trade union action, the Minister said there are elements within the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) who are using the genuine problems of the university dons for their own benefit in politics. This is what the Government must understand and address. We must understand this difference. Most of the professors and academics of the FUTA have no time to engage in trade union activities.

So the trade union is grabbed by extremists. The Minister should also address the academics in such a way that both parties can sit together and talk to each other and settle matters rather than making them the tools of extreme elements. The FUTA should also conduct as a professional trade union and not as a workers’ trade union.

Today they are behaving like workers in the country-not as professionals. Let us see the manner the GMOA or the GTSA conducts themselves when they go on strike, They at least deploy a skeleton staff to maintain the services. When the FUTA goes on strike, they are like ordinary workers. They don’t maintain at least a skeleton system. They boycott even the Advanced Level paper marking which will affect the student.

Q:President Mahinda Rajapaksa had said that this is the last time that the preferential votes are considered when the Chief Ministers are appointed. What is the Government’s stand on this which has created more rivalry and incohesion than unity in the party?

A: It’s a very good decision taken by the President. When this issue was debated on the last occasion, I stood by the principle of abolishing the present PR system and introducing a mixed system such as the German system. Then the voters will have their own member of Parliament for their constituency. If the PR system remains it will benefit the minorities and smaller parties.

Last time there were certain people who were supporting the PR system. Even at that time, the President said that he did not mind changing this system. Today what has happened? A UNPer has killed a UNPer and the SLFPer has killed a SLFPer due to the intra-party rivalry. It has descended to that level. That is why the President has now taken a decision to change this system. This system has to be changed not only for the Local Government or Provincial Council elections but for the Parliamentary elections as well.

Q: The Provincial Council system doesn’t appear to be the answer to the minority problems and aspirations apart from being economically and financially unproductive. Cannot we revert to the old system under the powerful Executive Presidency?

A: No. Whatever is beneficial to the minorities has to be decided by the minorities themselves. They should decide what is beneficial to them, not by us. You can see the election results of the Eastern Province and how the Tamil people had voted. This itself shows what is beneficial to the Tamil people has been decided by the Tamil community itself.

Q: Communal issues at elections always lie to the detriment of the national unity. Is it not the time to ban communal politics altogether?

A: It is not enough to ban the communal politics, we should also ban the communal political parties. The majority Sinhalese should also not be communal. We have to leave aside communalism and appeal to the minorities to come forward.

The communalism has been practised in this country for the benefit of the politicians themselves. Some Sinhala leaders have grabbed the votes by spreading Sinhala communalism. Tamil politicians also promote Tamil communalism for their political survival. So we all are in the same boat. Therefore, we can’t blame anybody else. We have to get rid of the communal mindset of the people. Then only we can achieve all other goals.

Q: How does the closure of Manik Farm in the context of IDP resettlement and human rights enhance the image of the Government contrary to the LTTE’s disinformation campaign?

A: There were about 300,000 IDPs in 2009. Since then, only three years have been elapsed and at the end of it the last remaining IDPs have now been resettled. We could now do many things since all IDPs have been completely resettled. We can’t just go and resettle the IDPs in a location. First we have to get rid of the land mines and then we have to build shelter for them. Other infrastructure facilities such as road network, water, electricity and education have to be provided. That is why it took time to resettle the IDPs.

That is also why those who have never seen this process are criticizing it from other angles. All foreign experts and other dignitaries who came to this country and witnessed this process highly commended the Government on the significant changes taking place in the North and the East.

Actually the main human rights problem-the right to live has been guaranteed by this Government. During the LTTE terror, nobody had the assurance of their lives, because bombs would have exploded at any time and they would have been killed. There is nothing like that now and no terrorism at all in the country. So everybody has been benefited.

That is the number one human right to be followed by others such as proper meals, clothes and shelter. This is what the Government has fulfilled. We have to settle this matter.

As we had discussed earlier, it is time to leave aside communalism and reach agreement through a North-South dialogue. I think Parliament is the ideal forum and the parties have to go before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC). Even now the President says that if the PSC recommends something he will implement it.

Q: How do you explain the intransigence on the part of the TNA and JVP in not responding to the PSC?

A: This is due to a misunderstanding and also because of the pressure of the pro-LTTE diaspora. Earlier the TNA was dependent on the LTTE for its political survival. It was disaster for the TNA.

Then it came to a stage where the politics in the North and the East could be conducted without the LTTE. That was the biggest crime they committed. Today they are solely depending on the international pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora.

Those who had depended on the LTTE are now on the diaspora. This pro-LTTE diaspora never wants a solution, because the day the problem is solved, most of the pro-LTTE people cannot stay in those foreign countries.

That is why they want to pump money and continue this struggle here. The Tamil people in this country want a settlement as early as possible. However, the TNA is not representing the minds of the Tamil people in the country. They are representing the Tamils who are living abroad and who have no problem at all. So that is the problem. Otherwise, the TNA can participate in the PSC.

If they do so, the UNP has said that they too would come to the PSC. Even the JVP will be pressurized to come. Even otherwise, it is not much of a problem with regard to the JVP when one considers the number of JVP representatives in Parliament.

Q: There are still foreign elements pursuing after Sri Lanka relentlessly invoking the bogey of human rights. Why are they so keen on Sri Lanka when there are bigger issues affecting world peace and human rights?

A: It is Because our President doesn’t bow down to pressure. Those days this country was governed according to the European sentiments. Now there is a Government which doesn’t bow down to any country.

We are a sovereign country which has been liberated from the clutches of terrorism. So they don’t like a leader such as President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

These foreign elements want their lackeys, agents or a weak President here. Therefore, they try to exert pressure and tame the President which will never happen. They don’t know the language they should address the President. That is the whole problem with Europe.

Q: The present electoral system needs extensive reforms in that firstly, true public opinion is not represented, secondly, money plays a leading role and thirdly, the old by-election procedure is more valid than ever to test public opinion. Your views?

A: I totally agree. This system is disastrous, because we have to do the election campaign for the entire district and not one electorate. That is too much. We have to spend much money for the campaign.

If we have an electorate, we have to print about 5000 posters, but for the entire district it will be around 100,000 posters. That is why most of the politicians have to earn that money. So it leads to corruption. Otherwise, they can’t contest the next election. So this is a very corrupt system. This may be suitable for a developed country but not to a country such as ours. That is the whole problem.

Therefore, the best thing is to get rid of this system. This is the worst system which we have in this country. We must elect a Member of Parliament for each electorate and he will be responsible to the voters of that electorate only. He needs a small amount of money to conduct his campaign. Then we don’t need businessmen to run the Parliament.

Today the businessmen have become the number one candidates in elections. They will spend hundreds of millions of money to enter Parliament. They are not politicians at all but mere businessmen.

When they are elected to Parliament, they try to earn the money they spent for the campaign because they are doing business. Finally it will lead the country to disaster. That is what has happened. Sometimes a party member is killed by another person of the same party. So there is no politics today and there is only business. How to secure a bigger post and how to earn more money have become more important in today’s politics.

The days have completely gone for the common man to enter Parliament due to this system.

So it should be changed as early as possible. Parliament should be open to the common people such as M.S. Themis, a peon of the General Post Office who won a seat in the election of 1956 or A.U. Rumanis who entered Parliament from Kurunegala district. It was school teachers and ayurvedic physicians, who entered Parliament those days. So we must open Parliament to such people once again. Then we will have more and more gentlemen in Parliament.

Q: The stateless persons problem and Kachchativu issue were amicably settled with India. Cannot there be a similar solution to the Indian fishermen illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters?

A: That is what we are discussing at the moment. We have formed a Joint Working Group and we have already settled many problems. At the moment there are no Sri Lankan fishermen under Indian custody. Earlier there were nearly 40 to 50 Sri Lankan fishermen always imprisoned in India due to crossing into Indian waters. At present there is nobody under their custody.

Those are the results of the ongoing discussions between India and Sri Lanka. Similarly, we will find a solution to other problems as well. At the moment the Navy and the Coast Guards have prevented Indian fishermen coming into our territorial waters. Our fishermen going into the Indian waters also are being prevented by the Indian Navy.

Q:The latest is that university dons’ salaries have been increased considerably. If so the dons should now slacken their stand for the 6 percent of GDP for education and arrive at a negotiated settlement. What are your views?

A: Actually dons are being led by extreme elements. The leadership belongs to the frontline socialist Party and the JVP. They have their people who are members of those two parties. What the JVP couldn’t achieve through the students, these two people in the leadership want to achieve through the university teachers. University teachers have their genuine problems. The Government and the Minister should address those genuine problems. There are elements in the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) who are using their genuine problems to benefit their politics. This is what the Government must understand and address.

We must understand the difference. Most of the professors and the academics of the FUTA have no time to engage in trade union activities. So the trade union is grabbed by the extremists. The Minister should also address the academics in such a way when both parties can sit together and talk to each other and settle the matters rather than making them the tools of extreme elements.

Q: More Opposition parties and pressure groups such as artistes, trade unions and voluntary organisations have expressed their solidarity with the university dons’ strike perhaps due to the legitimacy of their demands. Cannot this be resolved through diplomacy rather than adopting a tough stand by both sides?

A: It can be. Actually that is why the Higher Education Ministry must take the lead in discussing with them. FUTA must also conduct itself as a professional trade union and not as a workers trade union. Today they are behaving like workers in the country - not as professionals. Let us see the manner the GMOA or the GTSA conducting themselves when they go on strike. They at least deploy a skeleton staff to maintain the services.

When the FUTA goes on a strike, they conduct themselves like ordinary workers. They don’t maintain any skeleton system. They boycott even the Advanced Level paper marking which will affect the students. They could have held the examinations for the students, but boycotting the lectures. That is why I say these dons have the workers’ mentality. Those two who lead the FUTA don’t have the academic mentality but they have the workers mentality.

Q: Could you explain the present deadlock in the UNP as a former prominent member of the UNP?

A: That deadlock will continue until Ranil Wickremesinghe is there. I don’t think that there is any future for the UNP even without Ranil Wickremesinghe, because there is no alternative leader at the moment. There are no agitators and leaders in the UNP. That is the whole problem. All those who had the leadership qualities have left the UNP. Therefore, I cannot think how long this crisis will be there and perhaps it will continue forever.

Q: As doctor-turned politician you have so far weathered many a political storm and has left a mark in the country’s politics. What is the secret behind your success?

A: One thing is that I have the practical knowledge, because I was a student activist. Then I was a trade union activist. I have also been in the Government service as a staff officer for 15 years.

So I know administrative procedure and financial regulations very well because I was doing trade union work in the government service not only as a public servant but also as a trade union leader. In the same way, I was also involved in business.

Therefore, I know the other side of the Government service as well. Hence I can match the private sector system with that of the Government sector. If any issue crops up I know how it could be tackled by the Government and how it could be implemented by the private sector. If you are familiar with it, then you can be successful.