Sri Lanka, Aug. 5 -- Election week, is as good a week as any to look at the role of, and expectations from, the Sri Lankan legislator. Legislators everywhere are the same - they ask you to vote, and then proceed to get blamed for the next few years for what they didn't do, provided they win. There are only a few that are able to dodge that fate.

But Sri Lankan legislators are supposed to be sui generis i.e: of their own kind, and unique. Are they? In the eyes of Sri Lankans, they are. How close to the truth is this claim?

We are a democracy that is more party dependent and party-centred than most. It is fair to say that individual legislators rarely have that much of a say on the major decisions that are made at national level. At votin...