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Presidential
pronouncements Not even five cents has been received as Tsunami aid from foreign countries - despite all the pledges, she swears. On the first two contentions, it's a mystery where she got her statistics from. On the not five cents theory, as President of the country she ought to know that monies have indeed come to her Treasury coffers, even though she seems cannily unconcerned about an unaccounted sum of money in the President's Fund. Such momentary fusillades of pronouncements from her have been the hallmark of her ten-year rule, and almost certainly won't find a place in the biography of her written by one of her loyal servants which was released this week. Some feel that the advent of the day of departure -- the day her twin-term will automatically lapse - may have caused the added adrenaline rush in her. There is doubt and suspense thrown into the poser as to when the country's all-powerful incumbent President's term ends. The President is moving very clearly towards a constitutional amendment it appears, a long anticipated one. This amendment it is being said will - under the guise of introducing a Federal structure as a sop to separatism, alter the Presidential system. of Government and replace it with a constitutional regime that will permit her to remain in the political arena without having to bow out of it. The road to a country's rise is not always paved with good intentions. It needn't be.An old adage of the poet Pope which has found currency throughout the world has been " For forms of Government let fools contest; that which is best administered, is best". The question that arises therefore, is whether this blatantly partisan and expedient move to amend the Constitution is good for the country. As for Federalism, this is a question that goes into the root of Nationalist opposition to the division of this country. The issue is not on the use of the mere word 'Federalism ', but on what powers are to be vested in the proposed Federal states in miniscule Sri Lanka. The real issue is whether these federal structures will be the stepping-stone to a separate state that accelerates the demand for secession, a demand that has still to be dropped by the LTTE. On the issue of abolition of the Executive Presidency - our position has long been that a Presidential dictatorship or a Prime Ministerial dictatorship makes little difference. But indeed, between the two systems, we would opt for a parliamentary democracy with all its faults, as we have seen the worst aspects of a cocooned and rarefied Presidency, far removed from the aspirations of the people; an institution often bitterly partisan, and used for parochial purposes in the past quarter of a century. And yet, we know, the contemplated end solution is going to run into political considerations. The nationalists and the separatists will oppose Federalism; the minorities will oppose the abolition of the Executive Presidency, and the opposition UNP will want to continue with what was their system of Government, with alterations. And so we go back to the need for some clarity on matters which the President has herself clouded with her recent remarks. When she says that the nation has not received five cents from foreign countries at a time when her Foreign Minister is on a tour thanking foreign donors, we appear to be at the butt end of global stand up comedians. The Foreign Minister says in London that British relief afforded to Sri Lanka reduced Sri Lanka's interest repayment on a multi-lateral basis by 10 per cent. NGOs and foreign governments have given cash for tsunami relief through the banking system of the country. Millions of rupees have come this way. To say the least, the presidential pronouncement is going to raise more than a few eye-brows everywhere. Already, her transparency vis-a-vis the tsunami relief effort is in this light under scrutiny, and under court scrutiny also incidentally. On the other hand, if what the President says is true (that the country. has received no funds despite the pledges) this must be the biggest hoax in modern times played by the so-called international donor community on the rest of the world. But, at least if the President reads from a prepared text and not ad lib as she goes along, contradicting, embarrassing and misleading, perhaps at least some of this confusion -- leave alone the hilarity if not the dangers of her pronouncements -- can be avoided. |
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