Amid growing criticism from the opposition and sections of the media, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has defended the decision of his government to amend the Constitution.
The amendments, which have been referred by the government to the Supreme Court for its opinion, are scheduled to be debated and voted in Parliament on September 8, 2010.
Given recent defections from the ranks of the opposition, the government, as of now, has the required two-thirds majority in Parliament. However, questions have been raised on the propriety of the President rushing through piecemeal changes.
The major focus of the debate has been the need for devolution of powers to the provinces. However, the package of amendments proposed by the government does not deal with the issue.
At a special convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) headed by him, Mr. Rajapaksa said the proposed changes were not as “dangerous” as made out to be by the opposition.
He told the party convention, which unanimously endorsed the proposed changes, that the proposed amendments were not just to modify the presidential term limit as claimed by the main opposition United National Party.
The changes, known as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, seek to remove the two-term limit on the President and the Constitutional Council under the 17th Amendment.
The bill seeks repeal of the Constitutional Council and replaces it with a Parliamentary Council.
The President will seek the “observations” of the Parliamentary Council in making appointments to key government posts. However, where the Parliamentary Council fails to communicate its observations to the President within the specified time, the President can proceed to make appointments solely at his discretion.
Mr. Rajapaksa has contended that the bill would re-instate the powers that prevailed before 1978 to Parliament and the Cabinet. “There is nothing wrong in consulting members elected to the Parliament when making appointments,” he told the SLFP convention.
Keywords: Sri Lankan constitution
Comments:
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
It was really appreciable that both the President Rajapaksa and the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe made an attempt for arriving at a consensus to switch over to the system of Executive PM by a change in constitution to change from the existing executive Presidential system. The reversal from the Presidential system introduced in 1978 gave extra Presidential powers but not answerable to Parliament despite the provision for the President to depend on Parliament to get laws enacted and statutes passed. Unfortunately Ranil had made a U-Turn and opposed for the shift in the system. This turned out to be a ‘blessing in disguise’ to President Rajapakse. Later on Rajapakse too declared for deviating from the proposed shift to system of Executive PM.
Last month President Rajapaksa was in the process of negotiating with the Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and wanted to reach a consensus on authorizing independence to statutory bodies, by compromising at both sides and convincing the coalition partners. To sustain democracy, it is always desirable for the island nation to depoliticize Public Service, Judiciary, Police and Election Commission.
Rajapakse himself had said that the 17th Amendment passed in 2001 intrudes President’s constitutional rights and thus it has to go. He had defined it as an attempt to devalue the politics wherein Politicians will be seen only as perpetrators of corruption and misrule. He could make his followers believe that the 17th Amendment is a vote against party-based and election –oriented political system! He found it as an endorsement for the regime by non-political personalities and impersonal bureaucracy. The 17th Amendment will be faded into the past as a ‘Dead Letter’.