Doing away with MPs’ pensions -- the good, bad and ugly

• Our MPs have no such targets. Whether they perform well or not, their pension is assured. The fact is that they have failed miserably and ‘we the public’ are paying for their sins

Just days ago the NPP government in keeping with its pre-election promises set in motion legislation to do away with the pension scheme for parliamentarians. The scheme was the brain-child of our first Executive President JR Jayawardene way back in 1977. It was also, according to reports, the first legislative enactment of that regime! The motive was clearly, looking after MPs interests over those of citizens.

Though many MPs may have felt heart-burn over the loss of their pension rights, only one among them has so far has raised his voice against it. However the citizens of this country have not protested the move. Not surprising, because many of them always questioned what our MPs have done to deserve a pension.

An, ordinary citizen of our country has to put in many years (around 35 years) before they receive pension rights. If an ordinary person loses his job, he loses his pension and other rights. Why is this special treatment for failed politicians? Again ordinary citizens       -- mere mortals in Lanka -- need to put in a continuous service until they reach fifty-five years before they become eligible to a pension.

MPs pensions are non-contributory. Government workers need to contribute toward the pension fund, to become eligible for pension rights. In the private sector too, workers need to contribute to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Employment Trust Fund (ETF) to become eligible to these funds/monies which is in fact their own savings. 

So why the exception for politicians, especially when these selfsame people played a leading role in bankrupting this country?

Once again, the quantum of pension an average citizen receives, depends on how much he/she performed at his/her job via promotions etc. Our MPs have no such targets. Whether they perform well or not, their pension is assured. The fact is that they have failed miserably and ‘we the public’ are paying for their sins.

In 2022 the country was forced to declare bankruptcy and ordinary citizens had their salaries slashed. Over 500,000 temporary workers –according to the central bank- lost their employment. Yet, while the people lost out, MPs continued to enjoy all perks and benefits.

Today at long last, the present regime having taken a long look at the unfairness the elected representatives of the people have laid on their electors,  dares to declare this practice illegal and has said it will do away with this system.

A single ex-MP who originally came out of the JVP (the largest constituent party in the NPP) has come out with a tale of woe claiming he was in the military wing of that party. He goes on to say he has no other means of income, than the pension he receives from his years as an MP. He adds a warning all saying: “I am a guerrilla…” What he means by that we do not know, but it sounds threatening.

The ex-MP seems to have forgotten the damage he and his ilk as guerilla fighters caused this country or the numbers of innocent people who lost their lives to the killing spree of that period (1988– 1990). It brings to mind the fate of Nandana Marasinghe’, a JVP militant of the ’71 era who disagreed with the JVP strategies of 1988 to 1990. He worked as a cobbler and was killed out of hand.

There is a lesson here; that militant of the 1971 era was not ashamed to work for his living, however lowly the task he performed. It  kept the wolf from the door and he was not ashamed of his occupation. Nor was he afraid to voice his opinion.

Should the people of this country, irrespective of whether they be Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay, Burgher or Adivasi, be compelled to pay pensions to the insurgents of 30-year-long civil war as well? After all,  they too gave the best years of their lives to politics.

Let’s face it, our politicians have lived off the fat of this land for too long. Again,  taking away the privileges politicians gave themselves is no crime. The crime is that they enjoyed them for so long. 

Government has not been able to keep a number of promises it made in the run-up to the presidential and general elections regarding controlling the cost of living. But it is doing well in tackling corruption. Government is still in its seventh month. If they do not perform, they too will be cast into the dustbins of history.

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