225 MPs in Parliament have a historic duty

on April 27^th and 28^th on behalf of SRI LANKA

Isn’t it ironic that we call upon over 100 of those MPs (over 160 voted for) who voted for the 18^th Amendment, to give absolute dictatorial powers to Mahinda Rajapakse on September 8^th 2010 to vote to overturn that by the 19^th Amendment.

The actual vote on that day was: 161 for 17 against and 46 boycotted!

First we need a list of the 161 who voted for the 18^th Amendment so we will never forget and more importantly they will never forget the day they gave one man over the people!

Secondly we need a list of those who will vote against or boycott the 19^th on April 28^th and we should never forget them either. If there are some in both lists, then we know that democracy is not in their future vision for the Nation and so should be labeled.

The President’s speech to the Nation was more a speech to the 225 MPs reminding them of their duties to reflect the people’s mandate and choice of 8^th January 2015 as being their responsibility, and not for (enlightened greed) self-interest for personal gain.

What is the Rajapakse stand on this? Are they in favor or against? We are still not clear, and as we don’t know, then it is safe to assume that they prefer the status quo, where they were able to plunder, without being held accountable at all, as they had the Legislature, Judiciary and the Executive all sewn up without the required independence, and the Fourth Estate was hounded into submission by threat and innuendo, unable to speak up for the masses.

Mercifully for the people of Sri Lanka we live in a different world today, and few seem to appreciate how different it is in fact. We must try and explain to our fellow countrymen who are still not convinced, that we are indeed in a different era, post Rajapakse, and Maithripala Sirisena cleverly was able to explain by using the Counter Revolution argument why it was natural that some segment of the population prefers the past, living comfortably in the past, unable to comprehend a brighter and better tomorrow.

It is clear that the Rajapakse family who so shamelessly led the Counter Revolutionaries, fall into the relic of the past bygone practices being unable to comprehend that it too has gone the way of Stalinism!

The populace are now wondering if the thugs, the drug dealers, the wannabes and the illiterates they have sent to Parliament will be able to shed their clothing and put on a new outfit to suit the occasion.

How ironic then that we are dependent on this low life, so that we may herald a period where we send more responsible people who truly wish to serve, just like Sirisena who made the claim as the Servant of the people, at the next election. It will be interesting to see how many of the old guard return and how many new faces, and new hope that may emerge. The problem with familiarity is that it prevents unfamiliar genuine and honest people replacing them. Prospective voters choose your prospective MPs carefully.