Editorial

Predictable opposition has begun at the very mention of a “new Constitution”. The public announcement by a TNA MP that the draft for a new Constitution would be presented before February 4, the country’s Independence Day, provoked nationalist forces to raise their voice, if it did happen.

Instead, the Prime Minister presented a voluminous report of a “Committee of Experts” whose members were not named therein. And for good measure, the Prime Minister, sensing trouble from a section of the populace, not quite disowned the report, but said his party has made no comment on its contents. The fact that the now sole ruling party keeps its options open reduces the weight of the report to a ‘mere scrap of paper’.

The blunt reality is that there will be no new Constitution, at least not this year. This Parliament will never get to pass a new Constitution with a two-thirds majority which means it will not go to the people for a Referendum either – even if it reaches the Supreme Court in the unlikely event that it comes to that stage as a draft Bill.

Then what is all this hot air? The only reason for this rushed and virtually anonymous report is for the ruling UNP to accommodate the TNA for its parliamentary majority for the rest of its term and for the TNA to pacify its constituency with an element of bragging rights to say what they “achieved’. One might call it a high voltage pretense at taking the Northern masses for a ride, not just by the ruling party, but their own representatives who are having their own difficulties with the even more radical political entities in the North.

For that very reason, there may be some grounds to strengthen the hand of the TNA, as the lesser of the evils in the North. The UNP’s apparent willingness to consult the TNA in the development of the North is very acceptable proposition as the TNA remains the elected representatives of the North. It seems even the JVP recognises this as a fact of life though the main Opposition in the South is waiting to take political advantage of any given opportunity where they can cry “Rata bedanawa” (they are going to divide the country) and refer to, inter-alia, this report as a “new Constitution”, even if it is not, and marked clearly across each page that it is only a ‘discussion paper’.

There are, however, some crucial changes that are required to the Constitution, none so important to the country as a whole as the Executive Presidency. Either they must do away with it, or further whittle down the President’s executive powers. This doesn’t need a “new Constitution”. The Executive Presidency itself was introduced by way of only an amendment to the 1972 Constitution. There is no reason to be shy of the number of Amendments to a Constitution. India now has 103 Amendment acts to its original 1950 Constitution.

Arguably, the other controversial issue is that of decentralisation or devolution. Again, the “Experts” report which has TNA finger-prints all over it, has Land and Police powers to the provinces which are contentious issues.

Political leaders might want to take a look at countries around the world that have, in recent decades, been carved up, largely with Western intervention on ethnic and religious lines. Take, the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the federal states that were drawn up after ethnic wars within that once united country. Yugoslavia broke up into six independent, sovereign states in the 1990s. Bosnia & Herzegovina (BH) is one of them. And BH itself has 10 autonomous cantons (provinces) in a Federal set-up.

Backed by the US and the European Union, BH was bankrolled by the IMF, which has now stopped disbursing loans to it. A report by Freedom House, an international watchdog think-tank refers to “over-lapping jurisdictions, numerous institutions without real power, political pressures” and entities that ignore implementing “even verdicts of the state’s Constitutional Court”. It refers to how ethnic relations are “much more tense than in recent years”. The “hybrid system” of the many cantons within one state had much to do with the confusion. So much for devolution in such a small country.

While the debate on the existing Provincial Councils here is unfortunately limited to the need to hold elections, little is being discussed on the pros and cons of devolution. Even the southern parties that opposed this system are not thinking clearly due to the fog of election rhetoric.

For now, one can only say of the “Experts” report which some call a “new Constitution” seems a mere a kite-flying exercise to pacify the TNA in the least, and ‘much ado about nothing’ at best.

Carbon Tax: Doing the right thing the wrong way

The Government’s proposal for a carbon tax is already fouling up the atmosphere sending ‘smoke signals’; as it were, that the Government is bent on doing anything and everything to collect revenue to sustain an economy in peril rather than seriously tackle environmental problems.

Clearly, the quality of clean air and air pollution is a factor, especially in overcrowded cities of South Asia. But pollution from vehicle emissions is only part of the problem. Is the Government doing the right thing the wrong way?
Environmental pollution – linked to Climate Change is now for real. But bringing in green policies and “green taxes” has met with violent reactions like in France these past weeks where the masses have turned to nation-wide protests saying it is the poor that are being hit, not the privileged.

The proposed carbon tax in Sri Lanka is limited to emissions from vehicles and critics complain they hit those who have older vehicles, not those with new vehicles. On the other hand, successive governments have been unable to curb the import of two-stroke tuk tuks that emit carbon monoxide like nobody’s business because there are a million of them on the streets and so, as many voters.

At least now, the Government has decided to extend the carbon tax to official vehicles, including state buses rather than mere see they have a “conformity test” for road worthiness. Limiting a carbon tax to vehicle emission is not enough. Coal fired power plants for the future are still being discussed despite its environmental hazards. Deforestation and sand mining are major issues that governments and citizens must confront now very seriously – not leave it for later. Environmental degradation and carbon foot calculations are now very much part of the modern lexicon world-wide and Sri Lanka must join in the conversation. Planet Earth is warming up.