Time is ripe for Constitutional reforms-COPE Chairman

Rohan Mathes

KOTTE: The COPE Chairman and Member of Parliment Wijedasa Rajapaksa observed that drifting to the extremes of democracy, leads to a system of centralisation where a few individuals will tend to weild power.

Addressing the International Leadership Conference on ‘Good Governance for Parliamentarians’, organised by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry and the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), at the Parliamentary Complex yesterday, Wijedasa Rajapaksa said, “when we go to the extremes of democracy, power will be accumulated in a few individuals. The time is up for the members of the Legislature to bring about constitutional reforms, as otherwise people who have a hazardous experience, will loose their confidence in the democratic system itself”.

Recalling what Arahat Mahinda said to King Devanampiyatissa over two thousand five hundred years ago in Mihintale, he opined that nobody has inherited any resources, but only borrowed from their future generations. “We only have to protect those resources allocated to us, for the benefit of our future generations”, he said.

Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabral speaking on the ‘Efficient Use of Public Funds’, outlined how public funds paid for specific purposes are waisted.

“The public obviously expects some returns and results for their funds. They demand a pre-determined output. Parliamentarians carries the onus of ensuring a specific output. Only certain countries like New Zealand have succeeded in delivering the goods”, he said.

Speaking further he said that invariably, waste is not clearly visible. He pointed out that resorting to ad-hoc measures to tackle waste could also be detrimental and therefore should be avoided.

“We need to have a plan, and periodically review the situation by their results”, he added.

Nepali Member of Parliament Sujata Koirala spoke on the ‘People’s Expectations from a Member of Parliament, followed by the Secretary General of the UPF International Dr. Thomas Walsh speaking on the ‘Role of Parliament in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals’.

Executive Vice-Chairman UPF-India K.V.Rajan spoke on the ‘New Developments in Global Governance: the Renewal of the United Nations.