Political sagacity or pangs of conscience?

In a rare bout of sanity the govenment has decided to postpone the decision on a pay hike for MPs and cabinet ministers, it was reported last week. The peoples representatives were to get massive salary hikes-MPs from Rs 13,500 to Rs 22,100 ( a hike of 63 percent) while ministers were to get a quantum jump from 17,500 to Rs 29,815 (an increase of 70 percent). The Minister of Plan Implementation and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, was earlier scheduled to move a resolution in parliament to give legislators this bonanza.

In as much as the reasons for this sudden increase in salaries of the peoples ‘ representatives were not officially known, the decision not to go ahead with the move has also not been officially announced. The peoples reaction to the proposal was not very favourable. The media followed The Island’s comments and the Jatika Sangha Sabha which is representative of the Buddhist priesthood, through the leading Buddhist monk, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha, issued a statement calling upon the government not to go ahead with the proposal. The venerable thero in his appeal said that the government should adhere to its own appeal to the public servants not to demand higher wages because of the grave financial crisis the country was placed in.

The decision to go back on the proposal will be in the public interest and the long time interests of the governing party and its politicians, even though their wallets will be thinner. Punchi Singhos and Bandara Menikes, Thangachis and the like who have never had the good fortune of having 60 to 70 per cent salary hikes would have been furious with their representatives —who had promised them so much just four years ago— if they went ahead with the proposal.

As reported exclusively in The Island yesterday the Colombo Consumers Price Index showed an increase of 1.5 per cent from October to November— an increase of Rs. 73.08 in the expenditure value of the ‘market basket’. The cost of living does go up vertically in November and December and Department of Census and Statistics says that this has been caused due to increases in prices of food-rice, dried onions, coconut, fish etc. The Minister of Trade, Mr. Kingsley Wickremaratne, who had been criticised by The Island for his policy of importing these foods will say that it was precisely to peg down prices that these imports were made. The solution. however, lies not in importation of these commodities because next year too he would have to import to keep prices down. The reason for high prices is that production is not keeping up with consumer demand and lack of effective marketing.

It is said that the criteria for increased salaries to legislators was based on the salary scales of judges MPs to be on par with high court judges and ministers to be equated with supreme court judges. Perhaps the thinking of the legislators would have been that since according to Westminster conventions, parliament is considered the highest court of the land, legislators should at least have the same salary scales as judges. Why should the lawmakers be placed on a lower scale than interpreters of the law, may have been their thinking. It is of course a moot point whether MPs work as hard as judges. Can the judgement of a learned judge be compared with the speech of an honourable member of parliament?. In certain cases it would well be such as the speeches of Prof. G.L. Peiris and Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar and in certain cases certainly not.

The public will also be wondering about the reasons that made the government pull back. There is much speculation that provincial council elections are on the cards— probably in a month or two. With the Supreme Court ruling that the bill postponing provincial councils elections requires a two third majority, it may probably be that the elections to the councils will have to be held sooner than what the government may have been hoping for. With the UNP and some opposition parties opposing the increased salary hikes and the PC elections being held sooner than expected, the decision to postpone the increased salaries is indeed poltically sagacious.Whether it be political sagacity, or pangs of conscience, the postponement of the decisions will cool down tempers of the man - on- the- street who can barely make ends meet.