Dear Editor,
I write to publicly express my dismay and apprehension concerning what went on in Parliament last week when the Citizens Petition on the Draft Forestry Bill 2007 was circulated to members for consideration.
My dismay arises out of the fact that the Speaker of the House tried his best to explain to the government MPs that discussing the petition was harmless and therefore it should be discussed. Many of those same politicians when they were in opposition had publicly declared that democracy does not consist in casting a ballot every five years, but rather, in citizens having a regular voice in the Parliament especially on matters of national interest. I suppose now that they have “power”, democracy will be redefined, and so to my apprehension.
If this is the way a Citizens Petition is treated by the government MPs – the vote went 29 (PPP against) 22 (non-PPP) in favour of discussion in Parliament) we will have to rethink our strategy in dealing with the Parliament and those who hold “power”. I am writing about “us” as the petition was signed by at least 50 citizens, after it was discovered that e-mail signatures were not accepted in Parliament. Those who believe in people’s power and no to dictators can take heart from the monks in Burma and the ordinary citizens in Pakistan. In the final analysis it is citizens who will win out, not the dictators. As one prophet expressed it, “history and time are on our side”.
More petitions will be tested.
Yours faithfully,
Fr Malcolm Rodrigues
Petitioner
