Groundviews

INFOGRAPHIC: The cost of an MP – Who pays the price?

Featured image by Iromi Perera

On October 29th, UNP Member of Parliament and State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene tweeted the following:

The practise of vote-buying has up until now been an open secret, not least because it is illegal.

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.

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