Why it is ok to resign

In April this year, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announced his resignation, taking responsibility for the slow initial response to the country’s ferry disaster that left 200 people dead, mostly high-school students. The prime minister explained his decision to resign on national television and apologized on behalf of the South Korean Government. 

Last week, the United National Party (UNP) Kalutara District Parliamentarian, Palitha Thewarapperuma astonished the whole of Sri Lanka by submitting his letter of resignation as an MP. In submitting his resignation, Thewarapperuma crossed a barrier that few Sri Lankan politicians, or public servants, had dared to cross in recent times; actually follow through with a pledge to resign. Thewarapperuma had earlier called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to resign, accusing him of not conducting an impartial investigation into the unrest that took place in Aluthgama and Beruwala last month. The MP had threatened to resign from Parliament if this did not occur. 

However, even before the ink had properly begun to dry on Thewarapperuma’s resignation letter, news came that the UNP’s National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had rejected it. In rejecting   the letter, Wickremesinghe had advised the MP to first consult the views of those who elected him before deciding on his resignation. Whether Member from Kalutara will still continue to insist on resigning is open to question, but he had still not done so at the time this article was being written. 

By his own admission, what Thewarapperuma tried to do in submitting his resignation, was to set an example for other politicians to stay true to their words and live up to the expectations of the people. Perhaps he was trying to set an example to the record-breaking number of ministers in the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Cabinet, who have an appallingly notable track record of never owing up to any wrongdoing, let alone submitting their resignations. Maybe he was trying to set an example for local government politicians of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government, a large number of who have been indulging in every possible vice under the sun, from thuggery and robbery to even murder. Or maybe, just may be, Thewarapperuma was trying to set an example for his own national leader, who has largely ignored repeated calls to enact reforms and give up his own stranglehold on the UNP after decades of defeats at the polls.    

Whatever his reasons, Thewarapperuma has to be lauded for actually being brave enough to even write a letter of resignation, let alone submit it for consideration. What he has done now, hopefully, is to encourage his colleagues in Parliament to follow suit, though this might be difficult if he continues to remain as an MP. - See 

SYDNEY/COLOMBO (Reuters) - A boatload of asylum seekers intercepted by the Australian navy and returned to Sri Lanka is to be handed over to the police, a Sri Lankan naval spokesman said on Monday, a move bound to fuel concerns about Australia's hard-line policy and rights abuses in Sri Lanka.Australia said the 41 people on board were transferred to Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday, but declined to comment on a second boat reported to be carrying an additional 153, saying only that it was not currently in Australian waters.Australian border patrol personnel intercepted the first vessel carrying 41 Sri Lankans west of the remote Cocos Islands last week, after they were suspected of entering Australian waters illegally.   RETURNING THE BOATSAustralian Prime Minister Tony Abbott came to power last September partly because of his tough stance on asylum seekers.While his popularity has since plummeted, more than 70 percent of Australians support the government's border policy, including sending boats back when safe to do so, according to a recent poll by the Lowy Institute think tank."The government will continue to reject the public and political advocacy of those who have sought to pressure the government into a change of policy," Morrison said in a statement on Monday."Their advocacy, though well intentioned, is naively doing the bidding of people smugglers who have been responsible for almost 1,200 deaths at sea."The government has touted its success in blocking asylum seeker boats, saying there have been no illegal arrivals since last December.Australia received 16,000 asylum seeker applications last year, just under 0.5 percent of the 3.6 million lodged worldwide, UN figures show, a drop from 1 percent in 2010.Opposition Greens Party lawmaker Sarah Hanson-Young told the Australian Broadcasting Corp there was "nothing legal about the way (the government) has conducted these operations. They fall far short of our international obligations". The Greens plan to move a motion in parliament this week demanding more detail on the case.