Bill to end political appointments

By Munza Mushtaq
In an obvious blow to thousands of future political appointees, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is to shortly submit a bill in parliament, to put an end to all such appointments in the public sector.

Highly placed sources told The Bottom Line, that the bill which has already been drafted by the JVP’s legal section, will be submitted in parliament as a private members’ motion, by Kalutara district MP Piyasiri Wijenaike, in the coming weeks.

“The bill, if passed, will put an end to the continuous political appointments made to the public sector by ‘bigwigs’ such as politicians, who employ hundreds if not thousands of their henchmen, family members and friends to government institutions, resulting in even qualified persons having no chance”, sources noted.

The decision to submit such a bill was taken during the JVP parliamentary group meeting sometime back.

“The JVP legal officer has completed drafting the bill which will be submitted in parliament shortly. However, the exact date for the bill to be presented in parliament is yet to be decided,” sources said.

Annually, politicians appoint thousands of their lackeys to plum posts in the government sector. Most of these new appointees have neither the basic qualifications or experience in the posts to which they are appointed. This has led to the deterioration of standards in the public sector, according to informed sources.