Sri Lankan government postpones constitutional amendment

The minority United National Party (UNP)-led government in Sri Lanka has been thrown into crisis after being forced to put off the parliamentary debate over its proposed 19th amendment to the constitution. Debate was due to take place on Thursday and Friday.

The postponement was a result of infighting between ruling and opposition parties and compounded by the Supreme Court’s determination that some clauses should be referred to a referendum. The amendment has already been changed several times in a bid to get opposition’s backing.

In essence the amendment seeks to abolish the executive presidency and transfer most powers to a prime minister and cabinet responsible to Parliament. This was the electoral pledge of President Sirisena. Under the new proposal, the president would be acting on the advice of the prime minister, but would retain the post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Abolition of the executive presidency was one of the chief planks of Maithripala Sirisena who, with the backing of the UNP, ousted Mahinda Rajapaksa in the January presidential election. Sirisena and his supporters cashed in on the resentment created by the Rajapaksa’s dictatorial rule and wide spread corruption that became a hall mark of the regime.

Altogether 19 petitions were presented to the Supreme Court by different political parties, civil groups and individuals—most of them opposed to granting more powers to the prime minister. Amongst the petitioners is the Sinhala extremist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which is part of the ruling coalition. It accuses Prime Minister Wickremesinghe of seeking to usurp presidential powers.

However, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has vocally backed the proposed amendment. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared: “We think the new amendment is the right choice for democracy. It gives public servants the necessary legal frame to work independently.”

Likewise, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has declared that it views the proposal as a step towards democracy. The TNA is backing the government hoping for a compromise with the Colombo that would strengthen its position through the devolution of powers at the provincial level.

Speaker Chamal Rajapakse read the Supreme Court’s opinion to parliament on Thursday. It stated that the clauses delegating the executive powers of the president to the prime minister required a two-thirds majority in parliament and a referendum thus effectively blocking the move. Similar approval was also needed to appoint a competent authority to monitor state and private television to prevent violations of the Election Commissioner’s orders during polls.

The Supreme Court advisory opinion has been hailed in the media as proof that it was now impartial under the new government.

The SLFP is in turmoil after the election—sections of the party continue to support Rajapaksa while others back Sirisena, who retained his membership even though he defected to the opposition. On Tuesday, SLFP members voted down a proposal to issue treasury bills amounting to 400 billion rupees ($US3 billion) creating a new crisis for the government.

There is sharp opposition to the constitutional amendment even among those parties backing the government.

On Thursday, Wickremesinghe told Parliament that the government would change some clauses of the amendment and put it for the vote later this month. In a bid to head off criticism, he also said the amendment would not take effect until the next presidential term—some six years away. In other words, the executive presidency would not end immediately as promised.

Rajapaksa, however, is seeking to exploit crisis to make a come-back. He has told the media that some presidential powers, but not all, should be reduced. He is being promoted by sections of the SLFP and former coalition partners, including the Sinhala chauvinist parties—the National Freedom Front and Mahajana Eksath Peramuna as well as the opportunist Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Stalinist Communist Party.

Rajapaksa is operating from a leading Buddhist temple in Colombo and organising meetings at temples. The Sunday Times reported he was planning a march of 5,000 monks that will mobilise reactionary Sinhala-Buddhist forces to back his bid to return to power.

In 1978, the UNP government of former President J. R. Jayewardene rewrote the constitution, crowning it with the executive presidential system with broad autocratic powers. Jayewardene boasted that the “only thing the president cannot do is to change a man into a woman and vice versa.”

The UNP government was responsible for the 1983 island-wide anti-Tamil pogrom that precipitated the plunge into civil war.

In opposition, every party—the SLFP and UNP alike—has postured as an opponent of the executive presidency only to abandon their promises when in office and further strengthen the presidency. Rajapaksa pushed through the 18th amendment that removed the two-term limit on the presidency and strengthened his powers to directly appoint top judges and state officials.

–By Pani Wijesiriwardena

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