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