Featured image by Iromi Perera
On October 29th, UNP Member of Parliament and State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene tweeted the following:
Offers to party leaders Rs.500 million, ministers Rs 300 million to crossover and support MS and MR #SriLankanPolitics #srilanaka #ConstitutionalCrisisSriLanka #ConstitutionalCrisis
— Ruwan Wijewardene (@RWijewardene) October 29, 2018
The practise of vote-buying has up until now been an open secret, not least because it is illegal.
Important that all members of @ParliamentLK are aware of crystal clear provisions of the #Bribery Act. #ConstitutionalCrisisSriLanka #ConstitutionalCrisisLK #corruption #lka pic.twitter.com/mQyrM78p4w
— TISrilanka (TISL) (@tisrilanka) November 2, 2018
To add insult to injury, Wijewardene’s tweet reveals that vote-buying is being used to garner support for the unconstitutional appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister, and while Parliament remains prorogued by the President.
Rs. 500 million is a significant amount of money. Groundviews asked the question – what else could this money have been spent on? This infographic compares the cost of an MP with the money spent by the State on a number of development activities last year, including education, sanitation and healthcare.
We leave you with the final question: Who pays the price?
Download this infographic in high-resolution here.
Read our recent roundup of events and content around the issue here.