Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

16 February   2016

Yes Westminster,  Opens the door to the Lion & the Tiger

[Under the Westminster system there is only one committee – that is the Cabinet which makes policy decisions. MPs were the representatives of the public. That did not mean they should be isolated by giving more responsibilities to the ministers only. Under the current system many MPs were relegated to the back benches while ministers and officials did the work. The PM said: "We should change this and make Parliament the centre of administration. . Parliament is supreme in public finance. That power should not be vested with either the President or Prime Minister. We should find means to strengthen the parliament system."….. General Secretary of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake, British MPs Fiona Mactaggart, Julie Elliott, Richard Bacon, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs David Wier also addressed the inaugural session.]

- The Island ‘SOCs to be given powers to summon CMs and ministers’

Going back to Colonial system? Both Australia which continues to follow the Westminster system and Sri Lanka which embraced the Presidential system in 1978 – are my Nations. If Sri Lanka is motherland, Australia is fatherland. Majority Sri Lankans would tend  to follow only one system of governance. I need to empower myself quietly through my mother and develop intuitive powers and show the outcomes through my father’s standards. The two should not be equated through the outcomes shown but taken at total value to feel the Sovereignty of each as well as the Common One.

JVP rebellion in South and LTTE in North – happened due to our attachment to the Royal system. It is quite common for folks here in Jaffna to say about violence at private level ‘This would not have happened if the boys were here’. In terms of outcomes one would identify with this projection. But the deeper thinker would interpret that to be ‘The Jaffna man needs autocracy to be orderly’.  Those who continue to use hierarchical caste-based status are also the parallel of  the ‘boys’. The question therefore is whether we are driven by ‘outcomes’ or ‘common pathways’.

Relatively speaking Australia is money richer than Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka is People richer than Australia. One who would recognize the Sovereignty of Sri Lanka almost at the same time s/he recognizes the Sovereignty of Australia, would know that the structures / pathways through which the two are recognized as Equals are different in their make up. It would be something like this:

	Sri Lanka	Australia
Policies common  with other Democratic Nations	20	50
Ancestral Powers  Local to Land	20	10
Active Human Resources	50	10
Money Resources	10	30
TOTAL	100	100
Within Sri Lanka this picture would look similar as follows: Majority Minorities Policies common  with other Democratic Nations 20 30 Ancestral Powers  Local to Land 20 30 Active Human Resources 50 10 Money Resources 10 30 TOTAL 100 100

Listening to British MPs would therefore give us Sri Lankans, hearsay knowledge that would please them to open their purses but once they are out of sight – we would spend it on copied pleasures without roots in Sri Lanka – except in the case of those who grew up largely under the British system continued with by their parents.

Sri Lanka needs a more visible  hierarchical system than Australia and therefore the Westminster system as practiced by Australia would not suit Sri Lanka. If practiced it runs the risk of importing British knowledge and that would make a mockery of our Independence celebrations. The statement ‘Parliament is supreme in public finance’ is therefore applicable more to Australia than to Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka the statement ought to be ‘Parliament is supreme in Human status.’ The ‘shown’ money outcomes need to be about  fifth of the status shown to wider Public / World. We have richer Status system than most Western countries. We must wear that with dignity.

The family unit is the test. Sinhalese more than Tamils demonstrate respect for their parents through outer shows. Tamils demonstrate more of it than the White Australians. We the People rich communities must carry and show  our dignity through such actions. Many young ones here in Vaddukoddai touch my feet and seek my blessings due to this kind of culture – common to both major cultures in Sri Lanka. LTTE/JVP  followers ‘took’ obedience by influencing fear. Like desire that fear died quickly. Not so the tradition of respecting family elders.

If money becomes supreme to the Politician – our development of Human Resources would be neglected and we would be distracted by premature shows of ‘freedom’ – often mistaken for ‘Independence’. To be independent – one must first have the platform of breakeven status – where costs are equal to benefits. When students go to University out of parents’ / government funds – they enjoy ‘freedom’. It is when they settle their parents’ dues through respect and allocation of share in their educational status, that they have the even platform on which to earn their own money.

The voters who send the politicians to Parliament are their parents. Those dues need to be settled through allocation of voters’ share of parliamentary status - before politicians exercise their Administrative authority to earn their own status. In Thesawalamai – this distinction in made through Muthusum / Inheritance and Thediya Thettam / acquired wealth. Muthusum is shared hierarchically and Thediya Thettam – Equally between the current partners.

The Politician must be trained to show respect to the voter – and not treat the voter as her/his subordinate once s/he enters parliament.  The voter’s real status is based on the absolute power of faith. Such a politician does not need Administrative power but goes direct from politician to governor. At all other times the position taken must be official and not based on facts learnt through that position. Often the Administrative power taken exceeds that of the official position and hence the problem. It’s not the Presidential system that is the problem. Mr. Wigneswaran himself took up the Presidential position in his electorate. But his proposal of two nations structure to be included in the Constitution confirms that he exceeded his mandate.

Ultimately the real Constitution is written through our independent conduct on this Land plus the projections made on that real. Some of us call it Karma / Fate/horoscope. Horoscopes could be overridden through current merit. Likewise inherited Constitutions. It would be wrong to go back to an older structure such as the Westminster system – and negate the contribution by more current citizens local to this land. Some of the contribution was through death of the body.