Sri Lanka's Parliament compromised : US pursues agenda

Colombo (

NEWS 1ST

) - The current controversy surrounding the appointment of former Foreign Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam as an advisor to parliament has revealed the extent to which independence and integrity of Sri Lanka's parliament has been compromised by the involvement of foreign powers, who clearly have their own agendas to pursue. Kariyawasam and his family are longstanding residents of the US and have been so for over 20 years. His appointment as advisor to parliament should have followed due process by seeking the concurrence of the house committee. The appointment of advisors to parliament is nothing new, however, the payment for those advisors by an agency owned by a foreign power, in this instance the US, is deemed to be ultra vires essentially because ultra vires action on the part of the Speaker Karu Jayasuriya who appears to have ignored the house committee and has not informed the house that the payment to Mr Kariyawasam is from the US government owned agency DAI. In the past have we reported of instances where even constitutional matters have been compromised by the involvement of foreign powers. This comes on the back of nearly 72 years of independence from colonial powers. The actions of the speaker by compromising the independence, integrity and supremacy of parliament by permitting foreign agencies namely the DAI, the implementing agency of the US government can be construed to be traitorous, treasonous and certainly without parallel in the history of independent Sri Lanka. Foreign intervention in the affairs of Sri Lanka's parliament has manifested itself in a number of diverse ways. We saw this interference during the compiling of the new constitution of Sri Lanka through the UNDP funded by the US government. Sri Lanka will recall that during the no-confidence motion, the public gallery was filled by foreign diplomats including those from the US. At times, foreign diplomats were able to be present in parliament, although citizens of Sri Lanka were prohibited on some days. It was also revealed in parliament yesterday, that 60 to 70 parliamentarians travelled overseas with the expenses being paid by the same agency that pays Prasad Kariyawasam. People of this country will naturally assume that parliamentarians act in such flippant and undemocratic manner due to a lack of education which ultimately impinges on the delivery of the people's expectation. The people of this country clearly have a responsibility drawing on the negative experiences emanating from this parliament to absolutely ensure that future members of parliament are elected only after the most careful of consideration. The people must not be swayed by fake promises made by politicians who do not deliver upon the people's visions. In 2014, a piece of legislation which restricted the ownership of land by foreigners was introduced, however, in 2019 this government relaxed those rules. News 1st has continuously reported that under the guise of land reform, the American program titled MCC, has attempted to acquire lands in Sri Lanka When will our government take action to prevent interference in the legislative process by using financial benefits to intervene in our legislative process? On the other hand, controlling and manipulating legislators by offering them various privileges.