A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Wednesday, March 22, 2017
REBOOTING THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM PROCESS: A CIVIL SOCIETY STATEMENT
Image: Members of a Sri Lankan civil society organisation
participate in a candlelight in memory of the slain editor of the Sunday
Leader newspaper Lasantha Wickrematunga, in Colombo on January 15,
2009. The editor of Sri Lanka’s Sunday Leader newspaper, Lasantha
Wickrematunga, was gunned down just outside the capital on January 8,
2009. AFP PHOTO/Lakruwan WANNIARACHCHI.
It is now over two months since the constitutional reform process
effectively went into abeyance, with the indefinite postponement in
January of the submission of the Steering Committee’s Interim Report to
the Constitutional Assembly for debate. Substantial work was undertaken
during 2015, including the work of the Public Representations Committee,
the Subcommittees of the Constitutional Assembly, and the Steering
Committee. But the fact that there has been no progress at all on
constitutional reform during the first quarter of 2017 is now cause for
increasing anxiety.
Constitutional reform was the central rationale for both the change of
government and the formation of a government of national unity in 2015.
The current distribution of parliamentary representation is also one of
the most propitious for building the political consensus necessary for
long-needed constitutional reforms. For both these reasons, dissipating –
the still available but fast diminishing – window of opportunity for
constitutional reform would be a mistake of historic proportions. If it
is missed, then it is unlikely we would get another for at least a
generation: to reduce executive dominance and centralisation, to enhance
the role of parliament, to strengthen constitutional rights and
freedoms, and to ensure both devolution to the periphery and
power-sharing at the centre.
These reforms are badly needed to ensure democracy, constitutional
government, and reconciliation, and to re-lay the foundations for a
strong, stable, united, and peaceful Sri Lanka. It is clear that these
basic reforms require a new constitution. Piecemeal reforms would be
wholly inadequate. A new constitution requires a referendum – which must
be won by the government for its own survival – and this in turn
underscores the scale of the project.
We do not assume constitutional reform is an easy task. Even with the
cooperation of all and the best will in the world, constitution-making
involves the negotiation of difficult questions and disagreements. It
would seem therefore that efforts must be redoubled towards restarting
the deliberations in the Constitutional Assembly process. The President
and Prime Minister must give decisive leadership to this process. As the
first step, they must ensure completion of the Interim Report, which
should set out the general principles that would guide the drafting of
the new constitution. Once this is debated and approved by the
Constitutional Assembly, the painstaking task of drafting a Constitution
Bill can begin.
Alongside the recommencement of the official process, there are a number
of matters to which the government must urgently address itself. The
most important task is to develop and implement a strategy of political
communication on constitutional reforms. It is abundantly clear that a
vast section of the Sri Lankan public has no awareness of what is
transpiring in respect of constitutional reform. It is unclear to what
extent even elected politicians beyond those directly involved are aware
of what is going on. This generates public apathy and allows
anti-reform forces to control the political narrative. It is alarmingly
clear that these forces are re-grouping, and if they are allowed to
succeed, they would hold back the social, political, economic, and
constitutional progress of our country for decades. The government must
act fast to regain the initiative in this regard and ensure conducive
conditions for the constitutional referendum to come.
The President and Prime Minister must work together to ensure that their
respective parties are fully behind the government’s programme, and
that all members of the government speak with one voice on
constitutional reform. They must act as a government of national unity
at least until the historic purpose of delivering a new constitution is
achieved. Civil society supported the electoral changes of 2015 on the
premise that a government of national unity would ensure the
constitutional reforms outlined above. We remain committed to supporting
a process for a new constitution. However, it is now time for the
President and the Prime Minister to infuse a sense of purpose,
direction, and urgency to this task.