Criminals in Legislature: Speaker - Convict - Speaker in 1930/40s

Premlal Jayasekara - a death-row MP takes oath in Parliament

“… One reason why voters choose to elect candidates with dubious reputations is due to the huge abyss between the aspirations of the people and what institutions can deliver “ -- Milan Vaishnav in his book :‘When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics’   
A murder convict Premalal Jayasekara, sentenced to death for murdering an opposition activist five years ago, was escorted to Parliament last week by prison authorities under a ruling by the Court of Appeal, a higher judicial forum than the High Court which sentenced him to death. Returned to legislature by the voters of Ratnapura district, the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Party(SLPP) member took oaths amid protest by SJB led opposition who staged a walk out. Court of Appeal ruled that Jayasekara retained his rights as an elected lawmaker. As Jayasekara walked on to the floor for his swearing-in ceremony, opposition members who wore black shawls chanted “Shame, shame” for the ruling party MPs to reply with, “Victory!” The speaker, also ruled in favour of allowing Jayasekara to attend, and the murder convict will be escorted by prison officials every time the Parliament meets; an episode that unnerved opposition politicians and civil activists.   

Earlier, ‘Pillayan’, whose real name is Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, elected from Batticaloa district in the Eastern Province, was similarly ushered to Diyawanna by the Prisons Department to attend the first parliamentary session. The Former LTTE activist, who broke away from the terrorists to join the SLFP led Rajapaksas, and subsequently became the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, is currently aligned to the ruling SLPP, is another remand prisoner who is allegedly involved in the murder of Joseph Pararajasingham MP, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in 2005. Irrespective of party affiliations, the men with integrity in the House should protest such convicts among them. If the legislators really interested in imposition of the rule of law on subjects to live as law abiding citizens.   

However, Jayasekara affair is not the only instance where our legislative history was tainted by similar or even worst situations in the past, especially during the Legislative Council of Ceylon [LGC] and State Council of Ceylon [SCC] days of eight or nine decades ago.  
Francis Molamure elected member of Legislative Council of Ceylon in 1924, was the President of All Ceylon Buddhist Association in 1931. Entering the first the State Council [STC] in 1931, Molamure was elected as the speaker. However, following conviction in a fraud case while functioning as a trustee of a private fund, he lost his seat in the State Council, [it is not clear if he was granted parole by the British Governor], but he was back in politics after serving the jail term. In 1947, he was nominated by Ceylon National Congress, the parent of UNP to contest Balangoda seat as a Member of the new Parliament of Ceylon under Soulberry constitution. The former Speaker and convict’s name was proposed to be the speaker for a second term, which position he held until his sudden death in 1950. In spite of his conviction and jail term, in 1949 he was made a Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE] too.

Indian Experience

Politician Rajesh Ranjan - aka - Pappu Yadav, a life term convict in a murder case spent five years in jail. He was acquitted by the Patna High Court when it upheld his appeal enabling him to get out of jail and return to politics. Yadav, 53 who used legislative activism to leave all bad memories behind him was a convict for 1998 murder of CPI-M leader Ajit Sarkar. He entered Parliament from Madhepura in north Bihar as one of the ‘best performing’ MPs in the 16th Lok Sabha. 

Australian Example   

All States in Australia comes under the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, which denied the right to vote to any person ‘attainted of treason, or who had been convicted and is under sentence or subject to be sentenced for any offence ... punishable by imprisonment for one year or longer’
However, in 1983, this exclusion was relaxed and those sentenced for a crime punishable for less than five years were allowed to vote. A further mitigation granted in 1995 when the disenfranchisement was limited to those serving a sentence of five years or longer. Disenfranchisement withdrawn after release from prison. In 2006 the Howard Government banned all prisoners from voting. Laws limiting the ability of convicts to engage in politics exist in all every Australian states. In Western Australia [Perth] anybody convicted of a crime is barred from holding office for life. 

US Congressman Convict

James Traficant, the Ohio congressman who was elected nine-times, was convicted of bribery and other corruption charges in April 2002. In mid-July 2002, the Congress used its power to ‘police’ its own membership and expelled Traficant from the House, subsequently sentenced to an eight-year prison term; the conviction was no barrier to contest for political office. From his prison cell, Traficant ran for Ohio district that he had been winning since 1984. Criminal behaviour is generally understood to make a candidate unsuitable to be an elected representative. But, voter’s views about what makes someone unfit can change significantly, and quite rapidly. 

Somaweera Chandrasiri

Chandrasiri, member Kesbewa Urban Council in late 1930s was arrested and jailed for contempt of court, being a prisoner he sent in his nomination papers on LSSP ticket for first parliamentary elections held in 1947, and was elected MP Moratuwa while serving a term and also attended parliament escorted by prison guards. He retained the seat at 1952, continued his winning streak at [Kesbewa] March and July 1960 and in 1965 under SLFP he polled 64 % of the votes and was appointed a Deputy Minister in Sirimavo’s government.
Unable to attend the inaugural session of the legislature following the elections — since prison authorities refused him permission — Jayasekara petitioned the Court of Appeal to issue an interim order allowing him to attend parliamentary sessions. He has also appealed against the conviction and the death sentence. The main opposition party wore black shawls in protest and staged a walk-out claiming it is a violation of the Constitution. Some government supporters says, they should go to Hulftsdorf  and protest, but we are thankful for them for not repeating the disgraceful act of dispatching a bus-load of criminals to throw stones at Judges’ residences during the premiership of opposition leaders father.  

It should be the responsibility of Political party leadership never to nominate even a suspect before a criminal court if they really want its citizens to value the rule of law. We should not provide space in the Legislature to convicted criminals under any circumstances. The SLPP is responsible for the act of nominating Jayasekara, and not for allowing him to take oaths, as the speaker only respected the Appeal court’s ruling.     

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