Does Sri Lanka have a constitution?

As a product of the Peradeniya School of Political Science, I am of the opinion that we have a Constitution which is the 1978 one.

According to that, and as spelt out by a former Peradeniya Don and one of the architects of the 1978 Constitution in his work, the De Gaulle of Asia, A.J. Wilson, it is the sovereign people of Sri Lanka who form the electorate.

We, the electorate choose a party to govern us. We also give our preferences as to whom we want as M.Ps from that party. What we saw on TV, the crossover of UNP M.Ps to the Cabinet and all other crossovers, I feel go against the thinking enshrined in the Constitution.

We, the people of Sri Lanka, have given a mandate to political parties, not to M.Ps as such. Recently our Judiciary, which had no issue with the 1978 Constitution and the matter of the North/East merger, has upheld all crossovers.

How come? Why are the legal pundits who spoke so much about the merger silent about the crossovers? After the oath taking of the new Cabinet, a JHU spokesperson has blamed the JVP for all this. The JVP having won seats with the SLFP are now in the Opposition. A crossover of a type.

The USA and Sri Lanka both have separation of powers. In the USA, the Congress with its Democrat-controlled Houses, are challenging President Bush. In Sri Lanka, the President is playing the numbers game.

Did not some of the new Ministers cross over from the SLFP to the UNP in 2001? Now they are back! Will all this help our people?
I am one of those who did not take the MOU between the SLFP and the UNP seriously.

The rivalry between these two is part of our island’s history and the cause for all our problems. We seem to be playing musical chairs and also fiddling when our nation is burning.

By Sydney Knight, Rajagiriya