The Political Column

30th July 2000

PA ready to abolish executive presidency

By our Political Correspondent

President Chandrika Kumaratunga is likely to place this deal before the UNP within the next two weeks.

Some provisions in the electoral reforms appear to have been borrowed from the system that prevailed under the 1972 constitution. Accordingly, the system will revert to 160 constituencies with eight multi-member seats with a district proportional representation system operating alongside to elect 70 to 80 members. The PR system is retained to off-set any imbalance created by the first-past-the post-system.

Legal experts say the new electoral reforms are not inconsistent with the present constitution, especially with the chapters dealing with de-limitation. The proposed reforms do not envisage any alteration of the electorates.

Tamil parties are likely to support the government's move on the condition that the constitutional reforms are improved to give more autonomy to the regions.

Government leaders apparently believe that if the upcoming general elections are held under the new system, the PA will get a two-thirds majority. In that event, the PA need not depend on minority parties or the UNP to run its affairs or bring in political reforms. This explains why the PA is bold enough to offer the UNP the immediate abolition of the presidency or its abolition within a specific period not exceeding one year.

Will the UNP take the gamble? Could it face a poll modelled on the German system at the upcoming elections?

A UNP insider told this column, that the PA with its Wayamba-style tactics allegedly put to practice by some Samurdhi officers, would get two-thirds of the seats contested on the first-past-the-post system and a substantial number of seats under the PR system, ensuring an overall two-thirds majority.

Under these circumstances, August is going to be a crucial month for the country. It may see the birth of a new constitution. It may also see a series of protests, especially from Sinhala-Buddhist groups.

The Sihala Urumaya has already warned that it will organise mass agitational campaigns if the constitution is passed without taking into account the aspirations of the majority Sinhala people. It wrote to the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice urging them to give a fair hearing to its views in the event the government rushes fears with the constitutional reforms.

The Sihala Urumaya letter addressed to the Chief Justice says it fears that the Government will, in the next few days, present a Bill which is being hatched in secrecy by the President, the opposition leader and their confidantes. It says this bill labelled as 'urgent in the national interest' would be referred to the Supreme Court to determine its constitutionality within 24 hours without giving the sovereign people any opportunity of considering, discussing and expressing their views about the Bill.

Extracts from the letter:

"We respectfully submit that the mere fact that a Bill bears an endorsement that it 'is, in the view of the Cabinet of Ministers, urgent in the national interest' is not conclusive of the question of whether or not such Bill is 'urgent in the national interest,' and that where the nature and content of such Bill makes apparent the fact that it would be against the 'national interest' to rush it through your Lordships' Court and Parliament, Your Lordships' Court would not be obliged to give such determination within 24 hours or "such longer period not exceeding three days as the President may specify."

"We also submit with respect that in such event Your Lordships' Court would be entitled to direct that the normal procedure relating to Bills contained in Articles 78 (1) and 121 of the Constitution be followed.

"The constitution of our land being the basic law of the country which will necessarily affect not only the lives and fortunes of all citizens but also those of unborn generations, it is self-evident that any Bill for the enactment of a new Constitution is one that must, in the national interest, be brought before Your Lordships' Court and/ or Parliament only after the contents thereof have been disclosed in their entirety to the sovereign people and giving them the opportunity to consider, analyse and discuss the provisions of such Bill and make representations and submissions in respect thereof not only to their elected representatives but also to Your Lordships' Court.

"The cloak of secrecy in which the contents of the latest draft of the proposed new Constitution was and continues to be shrouded is such that they are known only to the President, the Leader of the Opposition, a coterie of their personal confidantes, the leaders of the communal Tamil and Muslim parties and some foreign diplomatic personnel. The sovereign people of this country including the Maha Sangha and even the working committees of the two 'major' political parties whose leaders have conspired to foist the proposed new constitution on the sovereign people with indecent haste and present them with a fait accompli, have not been informed of the content of the proposed constitution.

"It is also our considered view:

a) that inasmuch as sovereignty is vested in the entire people of Sri Lanka and is inalienable, the parliament elected by the entire people to exercise their inalienable legislative power cannot, in any manner whatsoever, abdicate even an iota of such power to any segment of such people; and,

b) that in any event, since a referendum cannot be held during the lifetime of the present Parliament, having regard, in particular, to the time frames prescribed by the referendum Act, any Bill for the amendment of the constitution containing provisions which require the approval of the People at a Referendum would, even if passed by a two thirds majority of the entire membership of the present Parliament, be a nullity and/or a Bill that is incapable of becoming law.

"Though there is no provision in law for the giving of notice of any Bill which is purportedly referred to Your Lordships' Court in terms of Article 122 (1) (b) of the Constitution, there is also no provision which precludes the giving of such notice inclusive of a copy of such bill to any person or group of persons who requests such notice. Accordingly, we humbly and equally earnestly request Your Lordship to direct the Registrar of Your Lordships' Court to give notice of any purported reference that may be made under section 122 (1) (b) of any Bill for the amendment and/or replacement of the existing constitution together with a copy of such Bill to 'Sihala Urumaya' no sooner such reference is made, and also that we be given the opportunity of being heard in respect of such Bill before Your Lordships' Court makes a determination in respect thereof.

"We deeply regret having to address Your Lordship in this manner, but do so only because we are left with no alternative but to so address Your Lordship in the national interest since the independent judiciary of our land with Your Lordship at its apex is the last refuge of the People against the devious and oppressive machinations of politicians holding the reins of power."

Meanwhile, the main Muslim party, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, is said to be facing a daunting task in its vote base of east in the upcoming general elections. Political analysts say the party which has decided to go it alone at the polls, will not have the same success it had at the 1994 general elections this time because it had lost the common touch. Of late, the SLMC leadership has taken little or no interest in maintaining the common touch. The eastern Muslims had little access to party leader M. H. M. Ashraff or other SLMC leaders from the east. This has resulted in the party losing its popularity.

Taking advantage of the situation, the UNP which was once backed by the eastern Muslims, is regrouping itself in the east. It is planning to field many eastern stalwarts such as Segu Issadeen and My Own Mustapha — these two politicians quit the SLMC and joined the UNP — and H. R. M. Mansoor.

Mr. Mustapha who has vowed to defeat the SLMC in the east is campaigning hard and making claims that he has made inroads into the Ashraff stronghold of Kalmunai.

Some Muslim leaders of the East say the SLMC may suffer a crushing defeat in the East with only Mr. Ashraff and Deputy Minister M. L. M. Hisbullah being re-elected. Others say it would be difficult even for Mr. Ashraff.

In the meantime, President Kumaratunga is pressurising the SLMC to contest under the PA symbol. Though the SLMC has decided go it alone, insiders believe Mr. Ashraff may give in at the last moment and contest under the PA symbol. If he does not, the PA would be compelled to field Muslim candidates in the East, threatening further erosion in Mr. Ashraff's vote bank.

Minister Ashraff appears to be in two minds — whether to strike a deal with the PA or sort out matters with the UNP. The latter option seems to be more advantageous, according to some analysts.

The SLMC also believes that if it contests alone in areas outside the east, it has a better chance of getting a couple of candidates elected to parliament. The SLMC hierarchy is now reviewing these options and will take a decision soon.

Not only the SLMC, but almost all the other parties also are facing problems. For the UNP it is the internal squabbles that have become a major problem and for the PA, it is the escalating cost of living that has put the party on the defensive.

The UNP, resorting to divine help, to boost its standing, had a pooja "deva kannalawwa" at the Munneswaram Ishwara temple. UNPer Piyasena Jayaweera read out a long stanza, mentioning problems the people face today.

Ostensibly, the pooja was aimed at bringing peace, prosperity and harmony to the people. But the bottomline is the UNP is politicising religion, some analysts say. The Munneswaram episode is the third occasion where the party had played the divine card — first at Kataragama and then at St.. Anne's shrine in Talawila. Though these ceremonies were described as prayers or pooja, they were also believed to be attempts at invoking divine wrath on the PA. Some observers have scoffed at this action of the party as a sign of its anxiety to capture power or win elections.

Others say that the party which draws parallels with the US Republican Party and the British Conservative Party has moved away from its elitist role, but should be careful not to don the garb of a superstitious cult.

At the joint meeting of the working committee and the parliamentary group of the UNP on Thursday, party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said this joint meeting had been convened to decide whether they should support the political reforms bill in parliament.

He said that at the first PA-UNP talks he suggested that once the two parties reached a final agreement on the proposed reforms, they should be placed before the Maha Sangha, Tamil parities and the LTTE. Since a final decision had still not been reached on the reforms, the government had not yet done so, he said.

Sarath Ranawaka, Karunasena Kodituwakku, Rajitha Senaratne, W.J.M. Lokubandara, Premaratne Gunasekera and Paul Perera said the UNP should not support if the government moved to present the draft constitution in parliament before a consensus was reached with the UNP.

They pointed out that the government was going back on its original pledge to abolish the executive presidency.

John Amaratunga who also supported this view said the government was trying to put the blame on the UNP for any delays in finalising the new constitution which was aimed at solving the ethnic problem in the country.

Mr. Lokubandara asked Mr. Wickremesinghe whether the article on Buddhism in the constitution had been modified. Mr. Wickremesinghe said the UNP had insisted that the article on Buddhism should remain intact and the government had agreed to this.

UNP constitutional expert K. N. Choksy said that today a decision should not be based on party lines. It is a national issue. It must be decided in the interest of the whole country.

Mr. Choksy said the new constitution was basically aimed at two goals — abolition of the executive presidential system and devolution of power to settle the on-going conflict in the North and the East.

"On the first issue of abolishing the executive presidency the government is adamant on continuing it. In the second issue of devolution of power, some consensus has been reached," Mr. Choksy said.

Explaining the problems facing the constitution-making efforts, Mr. Choksy said that despite his compromise formula on the nature of the state, the Tamil parties wanted the term "unitary' removed from the constitution and the term 'union of regions' re-included.

He also said there was no consensus on the method of amending the constitution. He said that the Tamil parties were demanding that any region should have the right not to accept the particular constitutional amendment dealing with devolution. As this was not acceptable, the UNP suggested a via media but there had been no final agreement on the matter.

Thereafter the UNP moved a resolution which was proposed by John Amaratunga. The resolution states:

"Whereas the discussions between the People's Alliance and the United National Party chaired by Her Excellency the President on the Government's constitutional proposals and the United National Party's proposals submitted to the Select Committee of Parliament on the Constitution, proceeded on the basis that when final consensus was reached, such consensus will be placed before the Maha Sangha, the heads of the other religious denominations, all political parties and the LTTE.

"And whereas no final consensus was reached between the People's Alliance and the United National Party on certain issues of primary Constitutional importance.

"And whereas the government has delayed to place even the matters on which consensus had been reached before the clergy giving rise to uncertainty in the minds of the general public requiring clarification.

"The United National Party's working Committee and the Parliamentary Group in a joint session resolved to call upon the Government to place the final draft proposals based on consensus between the two parties, when reached, to the above mentioned parties and the general public prior to presenting such constitutional proposals to Parliament."

The joint meeting also authorised the delegation which attended the constitutional discussions to meet the Maha Sangha, other religious leaders and the leaders of the Tamil parties in this regard. After Last Friday's meeting with the PA where Mr. Wickremesinghe walked out, saying that he would not participate in the discussions until his name was cleared over his alleged links with the LTTE.

The president was disturbed over the matter and tried to phone all the higher-ups in the police in a bid to resolve the matter. But Mr. Wickremesinghe said since he was involved and he did not want to interfere with a police inquiry, he would not participate in the discussions despite appeals by Minister G.L. Peiris that he should remain to continue the talks. He walked out giving the assurance that the other members would participate.

Mr. Wickremesinghe's decision to abstain from talks was announced to the UNP delegation when they met him at his 5th Lane residence before they went for the discussions with the President. The delegation approved his decision as they felt the government often indulged in the habit of linking Mr. Wickremesinghe with the LTTE.

On Tuesday, a UNP delegation comprising K.N. Choksy, M.H. Mohammed and Mahinda Samarasinghe met a government delegation comprising Minister G.L. Peiris, Indika Gunawardena and Batty Weerakoon to discuss the outstanding issues. At this meeting Mr. Choksy requested the government for a further discussion with the President and the full government delegation but this did not come through because the President had to leave the country on a private visit.

Situation Report

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