Storage Compartments

Sri Lanka's cabinet expanded to 54 ministers a few weeks ago, which is said to have compounded the already nightmarish logistical problems that parliamentary staff and government officials endure. I personally believe that our current president, H.E Mahinda Rajapakse, has taken up the wrong definition for cabinet - a piece of furniture resembling a cupboard with doors and shelves and drawers; for storage or display - and is now on a mission to see how many MPs he can collect/store for display purposes! what still baffles me though is how he missed out on the first bit of the definition.

With the two junior ministers, the total number of ministers, non-cabinet ministers and deputy ministers add up to an unprecedented XXX, below is a comparison between the cabinets of some countries and that of Sri Lanka.

America- 15 ministers for 274 million people
Bangladesh- 22 ministers for 150 million people
Canada- 31 ministers for 37 million people
India- 20 ministers for 1000 million people
Malaysia- 23 ministers for 25 million people
Pakistan- 13 ministers for 130 million people
Russia- 25 ministers for 150 million people
Sri Lanka- 108 ministers for 19 million people

According to LBO Guinness World Records could start a new record category on jumbo sized cabinets of ministers if a formal request is made. Guinness World Records had said that they don't monitor jumbo sized cabinets of ministers as yet, but are willing to open a category, if anyone's keen on creating a category to include Sri Lanka, they can make a formal request of the record through the Guiness World Records website.

Sri Lanka's 225-member parliament now includes 108 legislators (out of the 121 government members) who hold some portfolio in President Rajapakse's cabinet, i.e 90% off government members are legislators!!! Quite amazing/amusing.

According to the Sunday Leader, the tax payers will have to now cough out a monthly total of Rs. 6.9 million (63,500 US Dollars) simply to maintain three tiers of portfolio holding politicians.

In addition to the above expenditure non cabinet and deputy ministers can use 2 official vehicles and one security vehicle, but for now every minister has at least 10- 15 security vehicles. There are times that some ministers use 50-100 security vehicles under security reasons. Transparency International has revealed that some ministries were paying Rs. 300,000 a month (2900 US dollars) to rent super luxury SUVs for the minister.


Below is a break down of the benefits of being brain dead:

Monthly salary of a cabinet minister ? Rs. 65 000
Monthly salary of a non cabinet minister ? Rs. 63 500
The incentive for participating for a parliamentary session ? Rs. 500
The incentive for participating for a select committee? Rs. 200

Monthly fuel incentive for a cabinet and a non cabinet minister ? Rs. 75 000
Monthly fuel incentive deputy minister ? Rs. 50 000
Monthly incentive for the personal telephone ? Rs. 20 000
Monthly mobile incentive ? Rs. 10 000
The facility is provided to take an unlimited amount of idd and local calls from the official telephone for a month.

Every minister has a right to employ 4 secretaries as media, personal, coordinating, and public relations. Vehicles, fuel incentives, telephone incentives and limited entertainment incentives are provided for all of them from the ministry.

For the 18 cabinet and non cabinet ministers, the monthly expense for fuel from the government is Rs. 1,350,000. Also for the 10 new deputy ministers, Rs. 500,000 should be separated. The total monthly fuel expense for them is Rs. 1,850,000 (17,100 US Dollars)

After all being a politician in Sri Lanka is one of the least taxing occupations in the world - a task(s) that a coma patient shouldn't have trouble carrying out. What am I doing here, why am I taxing my brain??? I should start canvassing...

It’s your own damned fault !

When I was in Sri Lanka a few months ago all I kept hearing was people whining about the growing gap between the rich and the poor, the increase in cost of living (inflation at 22%) and all sorts of very valid (but moot) points. Yet I found it and still find it difficult to empathise with majority of these whiners, for three obvious reasons:

1. We live in a democratic country (another moot point).
2. All these poor people had and have the right to vote.
3. There are more poor people than rich people in Sri Lanka.

As a result, if they voted using their heads (thinking about what’s feasible and what was not) they would easily out number all the rich folk (who according to them – are out to get them). In theory, those unhappy poor people could vote for better economic reforms, or to tax the crap out of the super rich. Why didn’t and don’t they do it - instead of voting for loaves of Bread and Lentil soup?

I know the system is rigged in favour of big money, and the voters are manipulated into voting against their own self interests. That’s all true of course. Still, if you’re looking to place blame, it has to be on the low income people who don’t vote and when they do vote – vote for all the wrong reasons. If ever there was an appropriate time for the phrase “It’s your own damned fault,” it’s now.

All the rich folk vote like crazy (sometimes literally), and look at where they are. Personally, I don’t vote. That’s partly because I’ve not been in the country during elections (at least when I was legally eligible to vote) and partly because the rich (and yes corrupt) guys who come into power are doing a good job of taking from the poor and indirectly giving it to me, hence I don’t have much to complain about. I mean I can blow off the average monthly wage (if there’s such a thing) over a very average round of drinks.

But if I were poor and planned to stay that way, I’d certainly make an effort to vote for anyone that planned to screw the rich and give me free stuff – oh wait a minute that’s what they (the poor) always do…