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Anybody's guess
Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees Minister Dr.Jayalath Jayawardene
is lobbying hard to win the support of members of the Tamil National
Alliance (TNA) when his Ministry's votes comes up in Parliament
on Tuesday. His Ministry has been running full-page advertisements
in Tamil newspapers publicizing work done by it as well as plans
for future projects. As to who is footing the bill, it is anybody's
guess.
A surprise
hug
TNA members were in the news last week with their meeting
with the LTTE's political wing leader S.P. Thamilchelvam getting
wide media coverage. While all members of the TNA delegation confined
themselves to shaking hands with the LTTE member, TULF Vice President
and Batticaloa district MP Joseph Pararajasingham selected a more
affectionate form of greeting. It was a hug for a rather surprised
Mr. Thamilchelvam.
Privileged
to sulk
Conspicuous by his absence at the votes of the Southern
Region Development Ministry was none other than its Deputy Minister
Mahinda Wijesekara. The reason, sources close to Mr.Wijesekera say
is the failure of the Ministry to adopt several projects proposed
by him. Wonder how many other deputy ministers have such privilege.
Wife
is an official
While the absence of some makes news, the presence of others
also does the same thing. It was the presence of Agriculture Minister
S.B.Dissanayake's wife in the officials' box in Parliament which
caused quite a stir in the House on Friday while the votes of the
Agriculture Ministry was in progress.
PA Kalutara
district MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena raised the issue stating that
the Minister's spouse had no place in the officials' box but the
Minister said she was there in her capacity as his private secretary
and her name had been submitted and approval was given for her to
be seated in this area. Deputy Chairman of Committees Siri Andrahennady
too upheld the Minister's position. "The Minister's wife was
an official," he said.
Collective
action and blood ties
Another ministerial wife has been making her voice heard
loud and clear, at least where her husband is concerned. The Minister
in question had been making a call on a lady friend when his wife
had made an unexpected entry leading to a verbal dual between the
two ending with the Minister scratching his better half's face.
The consequence of this has been the wife moving into the home of
another minister whose wife happens to be a relation of hers. Blood
may be thicker than water but will collective responsibility of
Cabinet get in the way?
Less
said the better
While the progress and performance reports submitted by
each ministry during the Budget can run into anything between 50
to a 100 pages, there was an exception to the rule this year. It
was the report of the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry which was
more like a three-page brochure with many coloured photographs.
"Short and sweet," is how PA's Anuradhapura district MP
Duminda Dissanayake described it while hoping that if the present
minister continues to be in the same post next year, he would submit
a more comprehensive report on his Ministry's progress and performance.
Less said the better seems to be the Ministry's policy.
Counterproductive
to petition
Certain Parliamentary staff members are up in arms over
a decision to send a fellow official on a legislative drafting training
course to India whom they say is unqualified for the tour.
The consequence
of his selection has been the sending of an anonymous petition by
a disgruntled staffer to the Lok Sabha's Bureau of Parliamentary
and Studies and Training, which sponsors the three-month course.
The petition
has been returned to the Secretary General of Parliament along with
another letter stating that they would accept the person selected
for the course "in view of your specific recommendation."
The Secretary General in turn has informed the staff that this type
of petition sent to foreign agencies would compel her to stop recommending
anyone for overseas training in the future. |
