Do We Really Deserve These MPs?

The saying “We get the government we deserve” is often traced back to the French philosopher Joseph de Maistre, who wrote, “Every nation gets the government it deserves.” Over time, this notion was reshaped and echoed by thinkers like Alexis de Tocqueville and even Abraham Lincoln, eventually evolving into the familiar adage, “People get the government they deserve.” At its core, the phrase suggests that the nature of a government reflects the character, values, and actions of its people.  

But listening to the present-day debates in Parliament—where some elected MPs hurl insults such as “balla”, “kinithulla”, “gemmba”, “pimboo gemmba”, “shape ekay” and “bumbuwa”—one must pause and ask: what sin have we, the sovereign people, committed to deserve such verbal barrages?

What is the example we set to our children when the highest legislative body in the land descends into a theatre of insults? When the language of governance becomes the language of the street, we risk eroding not only the dignity of Parliament but also the values we hope to pass on to the next generation. This is not a matter of partisanship. It is about dignity, decorum, and the fundamental respect owed to the citizenry by those who represent them. Parliamentary discourse, at its best, should reflect reasoned debate and civic maturity.

Surely, we deserve better.

Upali Weerasinghe