{"id":121082,"date":"2021-12-10T17:09:33","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T00:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=121082"},"modified":"2021-12-10T17:09:33","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T00:09:33","slug":"pension-for-politicians-in-this-country-for-what-service-they-have-done-to-the-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/10\/pension-for-politicians-in-this-country-for-what-service-they-have-done-to-the-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Pension for Politicians in this country? For what service they have done to the nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara. Mahanuwara.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Pension for Politicians in this\ncountry? For what service they have done to the nation for the past 73 years\nafter 1948 (with the rare exception of 12 isolated cases) * Or for what they\nare repeatedly doing even at present to this Paradise on earth, once hailed as\nthe Pearl of the Indian Ocean and the Granary of the East? Or is it for making it\nsecond only to Afghanistan in the global poverty index and reducing it to a country\nthat is going round the world with a begging bowl on head?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of Parliament (MP) have to serve\n10 years hereafter to qualify for pension as opposed to five years at present.\n( A news item: 2022 Budget speech<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While welcoming that policy decision of\nthe Government who can say that this is not another election gundu to deceive\nthe people aimed at the proposed Provincial Council Elections? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Government was really honest\nand concerned about public good what it should do is to abolished immediately, this\ntime bomb and the fatal noose imposed by India to divide and destroy this land\nof the Sinhala nation, particularly in view of the present hard times the\ncountry is going through at the moment, as Canada had done it in 1995, without robbing\nthe nation any more without continuing it as a \nbonanza to trap politicians cunningly used as a bait by party leaders, that\nbleed the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mike Harris government eliminated\nMPPs\u2019 pension plans following the 1995 provincial election. Even it is allowed\nin exceptional cases like in Canada, a pension to a politician should be paid\nonly after 65 years in recognition of his \/her distinguished service to the\nnation when they are disabled to earn a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why pay pensions to politicians at\nall who volunteer and swear to serve the people at elections and on the\ncontrary rob and destroy the entire nation after they come to power. It is to\nhoodwink<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government in its Budget speech\nhas proposed that MPP will be eligible for a pension only after completing 10\nyears continuous service\u201d This too in my view is not warranted and justified\nat all, particularly in this country where they come to politics for unusual\npower and amaze wealth and rob public assets and moneys in unproper ways. They\ndon\u2019t even declare their assets before nomination or even after deliberately to\nmake room to justify their illegal earnings if someone questions their assets\nafterwards. What is more ludicrous is their claim for a pension also in spite\nof the enormous financial benefits and privileges they get from the day the get\nelected compared with what the politicians in pre 1970 period got. For example,\nan MP those days got only an allowance of 5oo Rupees, a Junio Minister Rs 750\nand a Minister Rs 1000 a month. They also did not get official vehicles or any\nother allowance or duty-free vehicle permits or official residences in Colombo or\nother payments like attendance and other extra packages like special\nallocations for their seats (in spite of the fact none of these people have and\nelectorate as they are only District MPP which has made representative\ndemocracy a big fast)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My question is under these\ncircumstances why pay a pension at all to any politician in this country\nBecause paying a pension to any politician is contrary to all basic principles\nrelated to the principle of paying pensions accepted all over the world.\nBecause the origin of the idea of paying a pension has begun in the world first\nfor people over 70 years in old age for the continuous service, they have\nrendered to the nation who are disabled to make their living, as a mark of\ngratitude for the devoted service they have rendered to the nation or the\ncompany for life.  Those days it was\npublic service and not self -service as it has come to stay today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man behind the initiative called\nThe Old Age and Disability Bill\u201d was Otto von Bismarck.  of the German Empire. Germany was thus the\nfirst European country to establish a fully-fledged pensions system for workers\naged 70 or more. The limit was lowered to 65 in 1916.June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1875, The American Express Co.\ncreated the first private pension plan in the U.S. for the elderly and workers\nwith disabilities. Early pension benefits were designed to pay out a relatively\nlow percentage of the employee’s pay at retirement and were not designed to\nreplace the employee’s full final income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this country it was started by the\ncolonial Government to make a payment to their employees in their old age for\nthe dedicated service they had rendered to the Empire. Subsequently it was\nextended to retired public servants who had completed 35 years of satisfactory\nservice in the public service. As such there was full justification for a man or\na woman who has devoted his or her service to the nation in her or his whole\nlife while debarring any other job while one is in engaged in public service as\nhis or her only income for living comes to an end the day, he\/she retires. But\nit should be noted that to get that benefit they had also to contribute a certain\npercentage monthly from their salary for which the Government contributed a\ncertain percentage. Therefore, in fact they are paid from a reserve fund\nmaintained by the Government out of funds they have contributed throughout\ntheir service. What is more is they have to complete 35 years of service to get\nqualified to get that pension. When someone retires prematurely the pension is feezed\nuntil he.she reaches the age of 55. This clearly shows that there is a very\nsound rationale for paying a pension to a retired public servant and it is\nfully justified both rationally and ethically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Now let us\nexamine the rationale of paying a pension to a politician in this country.\nPaying pensions to politicians in this country was started in 1977 by the JR\nJayawardhana Government. Curiously it was the first legal enactment of that\nso-called Democratic Socialist Government of JR. passed by Act No 1 of his government\nas a priority, as if it was the most burning public issue\u201d his government had\nto solve. Doesn\u2019t this show the degree of concern and commitment our\npoliticians have towards the welfare of the people who elevate them to high\nposition by electing them with a 5\/6th<\/sup> majority in 1977 hoping to\nget a better deal than from the previous Government of Mrs Bandaranayaka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is more hilarious and despicable is this piece of\nlegislation marked the turning point in Sri Lankan political culture where the\ninterests of the politicians overtook those of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 in a country\nthat inherited a rich legacy of public good enshrined in the concept of the\nBuddhist teaching Bahujana hitaaya Bahujana sukhaaya\u201d (for the good of the many\nand for their happiness at large) for 2500 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is even more despicable is that it was awarded to\nall politicians who complete 5 years service\u201d irrespective of whether they\nserved the people or not. The funniest part of it was the payment of that\npension to his \/her spouse after the death of the MP. Further his family will\nget another pension or even more if his or her son or daughter had been\nappointed as the Private Secretary, Public Relation Officer etc which has now\nbecome a rule of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the day, a tradition that had come to stay as a\npolitical privilege. Payment of pensions under this scheme was made with\nretrospective effect and it was payable even to politicians who served in the\nState Council, if they were living at that time with arrears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one man refused to accept this blood money in the\nhistory of Parliament. He returned it to Speaker. The man mentioned here was my\ngood friend M.S. Themis the 3rd<\/sup> MP for Colombo Central in 1956.He\nwas the first person and perhaps the only man to return it. I know it for\ncertain as I was the one who prepared the covering letter to the Speaker.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This piece of legislation was also a complete\nviolation   of the Pension minute which\nnobody dared to challenge or even question up to date either in a court of law\nor Parliament that is said to be the Supreme lawmaking body in the country.\nIsn\u2019t it interesting to note how our Law makers make laws and for whose benefit\nthey make them in this so-called supreme legislature of the country expected to\nmake laws for good governance for the good of the people and the good of the\ncountry at large? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JR did not stop at that. He did\neverything to enhance the fabulous benefit package to MPP with immediate effect.\nHe dramatically increased salaries, increase payments for attending Parliament,\nofficial vehicles with duty free vehicle permits were also provided, which they\ncould sell in the open market and make a fabulous fortune. Official quarters in\nColombo were also given where as they had to be in Colombo only for 8 days a\nmonth. Unlimited job permits for MPP to give employment for their party\nsupporters only, monopoly of tavern license, business permits and government\ncontracts, LRC land nationalized by Mrs B for a song and government Import\npermits.  The sky was the limit to such\nprivileges. Here I stop the list for brevity and lack of space. All this was\ndone to buy over the MPP to maintain the majority in Parliament to embellish\nand consolidate his dictatorial position as the Executive President which\nperhaps he thought is a lifetime job, but unfortunately not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The same corrupt and highway robbery situation\nstill continues in incremental scale without being openly questioned or\nchallenged by anyone in the \u2018People\u2019s Parliament. So much so today the whole\nsystem of governance in this country has become a veritable national liability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 JR also increased the number of MPP in\nParliament from 196 to 225 by introducing a thing called a National list to\nprovide a place in Parliament for their kith and kin and family friends as\nbackdoor MPP bypassing the elections and thus making Representative Parliament\na \u201dNon-representative thereby making representative democracy a big fast and a hilarious\njoke. Instead of reducing it to 165 the previous number that would have save\nbillions for national development and reduced IMF and other foreign loans\nthereby reducing the annual budget deficits and avoiding bankruptcy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the top of this JR also signed an\nAgreement with Rajiv Ghandi completely handing over the North and East\ncomprising 1\/3 of the land of the country and 2\/3rd<\/sup> of the coastal\nbelt together with the maritime territory adjacent to it as the Traditional\nHistorical Homeland of the Tamil people completely forgetting the fact that the\nonly Traditional Historical Homeland of Tamil people on earth exists only in Tamilnadu\nSouth India. (See Rajiv \/JR Indo Lanka Accord of 29th<\/sup> July 1987 for\na full list of JR\u2019S betrayal ) Thereby he committed an unpardonable criminal\noffence against the Sinhala Buddhist nation by selling 1\/3 of the homeland of\nthe Sinhala nation that had been their motherland from the inception of known\nhuman history and also thereby making the way for annihilating the Sinhala\nnation and the Mother  land of the\nSinhala nation as he had once predicted in his public speeches where he said\nthe Sinhala nation will be extinct  in\nanother 25 years. This Accord that conceded 1\/3 of the land and 2\/3rd<\/sup>\nof the coastal belt with all its marine resources as the Historical Traditional\nHome land of the Tamils of South India who were the eternal enemies of this\nSinhala nation, in short was the biggest betrayal by any politician in the\nentire history of this Island Nation from the beginning of history. The only\nrelief is that this Accord as well as the !3th Amendment were illegally entered\nin to under emergency by the blessing of the Gods, fortunately that could be\nannulled at any moment by a patriotic leader blessed with a strong spine and\nthe courage to do it as it was an absolute travesty of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was even more traitorous was the\nAgreement to establish 9 Provincial Councils co-terminus with the British made\nProvinces to divide the country in to nine independent governing units making\nthe way for the establishment of Future EELAM -the dream land of Prabhaharan to\nerase the 2500-year-old Sinhala Kingdom from the surface of this earth. If the provisions\nof the Provincial council are implemented to the letter that will be the\ndeath-knell of territorial integrity and the Ekathchatra<\/em> status of this\nland nation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of these Provinces to be\ngoverned by a Governor, a board of 5 Ministers headed by a Chief Minister and\nan army of Provincial councilors of about 700 low grade politicians supported\nby a some 14,000 Pradesiya Sabha (double the number that was there before.\nPolitically this system lead to quasi-Federal status leading to a Federal state\nto begin with, with (1) a Tamilnadu comprising the North, East, Central,\nSabaragamuwa and Uva only for Tamils,( as it was once stated by A.J. Wilson the\nSon-in-Law of Chelvanaayagam),amalgamated under the provisions in the Rajiv\/JR  Accord \nfor amalgamation  2 or more\nProvinces comprising 2\/3 of the area of the Island, a mono Tamil state and the\nbalance 1\/3 for a multi racial community including Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims\nand all others, leading to a virtual pickle and an eternal battle ground of ethnic,\nreligious and social crises and a hotch-potch of International conflicts in\nview of it\u2019s strategic geo=political importance that will finally lead to the\nextinction of the  2500 year old Sinhala\nBuddhist civilization from the surface of this earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is more depressing is already\nthis provincial council system has wasted trillions (Koti- Prakoti) of public\nfunds for the upkeep of these superfluous new political creations for nor\nbenefit to the country but benefited only the politicians, from 1987 to date .\nIt has been said that 85% of national tax collection is spent for the upkeep of\npoliticians and so-called public officials in this country leaving only 15 %\nleft for all other work concerning the country and 21millions citizens. I do\nnot propose to say a word about the lawlessness, corruption and international\ndebts to the tune of 56 billion US $ as at present dragging the country to the\nbottom of abject poverty and bankruptcy converting this once proud nation and\nsecond richest country in South East Asia second only to Japan by 1948, loans\neven from Bangladesh and Maldives the latest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the pathetic situation in to\nwhich this proud and rich nation which gave Sterling loans even to the British\nEmpire in early 1950s has been put by our politicians who are supposed to have\nruled this Island nation from 1948 up to date and ruined by separatists Tamils\nand Muslims with their Tamil and Muslim dream lands on this Land of the Sinhala\nnation from the dawn of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And mind you it is to this kind of\npoliticians who have robbed the nation hook, line and sinker and also those who\ncontinue to do the same game and jointly responsible for making this country a\ndebt ridden and begging country this peracetic and good for nothing governments\ncontinue to give a fat pension extracting from the beggar\u2019s bowl<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this back drop as for me, I\nstrongly oppose a single scent been given to any politician as a pension. In addition,\nI also suggest that all extraordinary benefits like palatial official mansions\nand all other benefits like official vehicles, security and all other extra benefits\nbe withdrawn forthwith before the masses march in thousands and forcibly take\nover all these public assets as a protest against what they have done to this\ncountry and the Sinhala nation over the past 73 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This includes all politicians including the\nex-Presidents and their rich widows. However, I am not against for paying a\npension to an honest politician like C W.W Kannangara who has devoted his\nentire life for the service to the people and the country and who had done an\nindelible and memorable service to the nation, after passing a resolution in\nParliament to that effect. That will definitely prevent self- seeking wealth\nmongering people doing politics and limit it to men and women of outstanding character,\ndignity and commitment to the service of people the noble wove of any honest\npolitician should be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally I propose first, the immediate\nabolition of the pension scheme to all politicians and second, appointment of a\npowerful Presidential or a Public Commission to enquire in to the illicit and\nillegitimate earnings of all politicians at all levels starting from 1977 up to\ndate and confiscate all illicitly earned assets proved, both at home and abroad\nsuch as Pandora assets and credit all that wealth to the General Treasury\nAccount so that people will get back all their wealth robbed by politicians at\nleast from 1977 onwards so that all those who aspire to be politicians in\nfuture in this country will begin with a new political vision opening the doors\nto a new political culture setting a Sri Lankan model for the entire world and\nonce agai restore the ancient glory of the Sinhala nation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Rare exceptions: D.S. Senanayaka, C.W.W.\nKannagara, S.W.R.D. Bandaranayaka, Sirimavo Bandaranayaka, Philip Gunawardana, T.B.Ilanagratna,\nHector Kobbekaduwa, Lalith Atulathmudali, Gamini Disanayaka , Luxma Kadiragamar\nand Mahinda Rajapaksa.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara. Mahanuwara. Pension for Politicians in this country? For what service they have done to the nation for the past 73 years after 1948 (with the rare exception of 12 isolated cases) * Or for what they are repeatedly doing even at present to this Paradise on earth, once hailed as the Pearl […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sudath-gunasekara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}