There is less discussion today about the Right to Information Law vested with the public with the 19th Amendment to the constitution. However, in the run up to the general elections in the current backdrop, there is discussion in the election arena about the repeal of the 19th Amendment. This article sheds light on an important factor for the public to consider when casting their vote in the 2020 parliamentary election.
Four main parties or alliances are vying for power in the forthcoming general elections and it is interesting that the Prime Ministerial candidates of all four alliances are members of the previous Parliament, which allows us to find out if these candidates have fulfilled their responsibilities in the previous parliament.
This article contains information obtained from the Right to Information Law and details of the Members of Parliament published on the Manthri website.
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the Prime Minister of the current government, is contesting the general election from the Kurunegala District as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna.
He was elected to Parliament from the Kurunegala District representing the United People’s Freedom Alliance in the 2015 Parliamentary Elections and obtained 423,529 preferential votes.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is ranked 145th out of 225 former Members of Parliament. Also, 15 Members of Parliament represented the Kurunegala District at that time and Mahinda Rajapaksa secured the 10th position among the members representing the Kurunegala District.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s turnout for the 2015-2020 parliamentary sessions was 33%. The parliament has been in session for 414 days and he has only been in office for 138 days.
Ranil Wikremasinghe
Ranil Wickremesinghe, who served as the Prime Minister of the previous government, is contesting the general election from the Colombo District as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the United National Party.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected to Parliament from the Colombo District representing the United National Front in the 2015 Parliamentary Elections, obtained 5,56,600 preferential votes.
According to the ranking of 225 Members of Parliament who represented the previous Parliament, Ranil Wickremesinghe is ranked 21st. 19 members represented the Colombo District in the former Parliament and he is ranked 6th among the Members of Parliament representing the District.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s attendance in Parliament for the period 2015-2020 was 86%. Parliament has been in session for 414 days and he has been in office for 353 days.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who once served as the Chief Opposition Organizer in Parliament, is contesting the general election from the Colombo District as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the National People’s Power.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was elected to Parliament from the Colombo District representing the JVP in the 2015 Parliamentary Elections, obtained 65,966 preferential votes.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake has secured the 1st position in the ranking of 225 Members of the former Parliament.
19 members of Parliament represented the Colombo District and he was ranked 1st among the Members of Parliament representing the District.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s turnout for the Parliament sessions held during the period 2015-2020 was 78%. Parliament has been in session for 414 days and he has been in office for 324 days.
Sajith Premadasa
Sajith Premadasa was the Minister of Housing Development in the previous Parliament and is contesting the general election from the Colombo District as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Samagi Janabalawegaya.
Sajith Premadasa was elected to Parliament from the Hambantota District representing the United National Front in the 2015 Parliamentary Elections and obtained 112,645 preferential votes.
Sajith Premadasa is ranked 77th out of 225 Members of that Parliament.Sajith Premadasa is the 3rd ranked Member of Parliament from the Hambantota District from the 07 representing the District.
Sajith Premadasa’s turnout for Parliament from 2015-2020 was 39%. Parliament has been in session for 414 days and he has only been in office for 160 days.
We believe that the overview of the work done by the Prime Ministerial candidates of the major parties in representing the people in Parliament over the past five years are of importance for the public. At a time when people are inquiring about the level of involvement of candidates in the parliament on public issues, an assessment of the real involvement of the candidates would help them pick the best of peoples’ representatives before they cast their vote.
Prepared by: C. Sampath
Recent Comments