SRI LANKA MULLS POLITICAL REFORMS AS IT WRITES A NEW CONSTITUTION

Sri Lanka’s reformist President Maithripala Sirisena has lived up to his election promise as he has proposed a new constitution aimed at devolving power, a long-pending demand of the country’s minorities, including the Tamils. One hopes the constitution, once adopted, will genuinely usher in national unity in the country, which was torn apart by the 26-year-long armed conflict between security forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels. Even after the end of the fierce conflict in 2009, the island nation has been struggling to establish bonafide democracy and restore fundamental rights to all its citizens.  President Sirisena should be lauded as he is making an honest attempt to put an end to ethnic tensions that led to a long and bitter civil war in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

The new constitution seeks to guarantee fundamental rights and freedoms that assure human dignity and promote responsible and accountable government. It is a bold statement which attempts to take reconciliatory steps to reach out to all communities. 

President Sirisena’s comments that the constitution must “suit the needs of the 21^st century and make sure all communities live in harmony” are aimed at addressing the concerns of Tamil minority, which felt alienated in the previous set-ups.

The proposed constitution also seeks to overhaul the present electoral system which many considered flawed and non-representative. There is a proposal to increase the seats in the country’s parliament from 225 seats to 237. Besides 145 elected representatives, it seeks to select 55 representatives on a proportional representation basis keeping in mind the interests of all the communities. Another 37 representatives will come from a national list of candidates. The proposed changes make the political system more transparent and inclusive. The thrust is to unify different ethnic communities by giving them proportionate representation, something which was missing in the constitution since the country gained independence from Britain in 1948. The successive governments always bowed to the pressures from the powerful majority ethnic Sinhala community which was against any power-sharing deal with the minority ethnic Tamils.

Another major contentious issue has been the denial of higher government positions to the ethnic Tamils by the successive governments after the independence. During the British regime, the local Tamils were favoured for key government positions over the Sinhalese. Tamils’ alienation grew into frustration as the governments started ignoring their interests and pandering to the majority Sinhalese population.  This led to the creation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE which waged an armed struggle against the government for the creation of an independent state for the country’s minority Tamils.

The seriousness of the new government in carrying out political reforms is beyond doubt as it agreed to investigate alleged war crime allegations against government troops and LTTE rebels only a few months ago. The government has pledged a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the charges, which, however, falls short of the demands for an internationally-backed judicial   inquiry. A United Nations report estimates that at least 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in the final months of the civil war when the then government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa launched a massive military operation to crush the separatist LTTE and reclaim the areas controlled by it.

Sadly, the proposed reforms, which have far reaching consequences, are being fiercely opposed by some disgruntled elements led by the former President Rajapaksa who have accused the government of kowtowing to the western nations. Attempts are also being made to fan communal tensions by opponents who say the new government is diluting the main religion, Buddhism. Rajapaksa and his family, which had completely monopolized the power, are opposing the proposal to abolish the Executive Presidency for political motives only. The draconian powers of the Executive Presidency were first introduced by the then President J. R. Jayewardene in 1978 weakening the authority and supremacy of parliament.  No government had misused the Executive Presidency as much as President Rajapaksa did.

The challenges are too many for President Sirisena who is seeking to restore the credibility of parliament and address the genuine concerns of the Tamils within the framework of the constitution. There is no doubt that Sri Lanka desperately needs a new constitution which seeks to democratize the existing institutions and establish the rule of law. Sirisena was voted to power on these twin promises. Now that the people have given him a mandate, no attempt should be made to weaken that mandate.