The   Presidential and Parliamentary elections have been held to give legitimacy to the post war government of President Rajapakse. Legitimacy to govern connotes the need to uphold democratic ideals and make democratic principles the foundation on which the collective and the individual functions in the State.

President Rajapakse’s government gave the country the much desired peace and the country in turn demonstrated its appreciation by giving a resounding victory at both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections.  Analysis of the results of the parliamentary elections, clearly show that those who identified and espoused the President’s cause, particularly during the Presidential elections, were rewarded by the people.  In fact, those who have been maligned for corruption, for criminalization of politics, for unethical conduct have not been penalised except for one or two.  This is perhaps a singularly unique instance when the electors have decided to ignore performance rating and ethical and value based judgments in order to give the President the numbers he needs to put into effect his plans for the following six years.   Peace cannot be sustained unless the issues that created the conditions for the war is dealt with as priority number one.

While this is true for the resolution of the ethnic conflict there emerges yet another serious demand on the powers that be to look closely into the constitutional arrangements so as to respond to the demand for correctives to the 1978 Constitution.  One issue that the President has directly voiced should be changed is the preferential system of voting which has turned elections into a war zone to secure the most number of preferences for the contenders.   Party loyalty, party manifestos have all been overlooked in the run up to the manape struggle.  In fact, all sense of even outward decency and decorum in the conduct of future law makers were forfeited for the race to be the front runner.  The law makers violated every law in the book.   The removal of this and the introduction of the first past the post or the adoption of the much touted German system should settle the issues of excessive violence, intra- party competition and aggression.

The centralization of power in the President has been a cause celebre to unite all kinds of individuals with divergent political ideologies.  The apologists for the Presidential System claim that it is not the institution that matters but the incumbent that holds the post of president.  Many of the changes that introduced political control of the governance machinery and processes were effectively introduced for the most part, under the Prime Ministerial System from the 1970’s.  In fact, the concept of sovereignty was given a new interpretation so that Parliament could wield absolute power in the name of the people’s sovereignty.  Therefore, the need perhaps is to introduce procedures that will make the President be seen as an integral part of the representative system by presenting himself and participating in the proceedings in Parliament during important debates or policy initiatives.

The Nation’s Voice

This makes the President and his cabinet a responsive part of the legislature, the seat of the country’s representatives. In the words of Shekhar Gupta, “The forum of elected representatives is where a nation hears its voice.” The President, the chief representative of the people, must be heard from this forum.    This move will make the President seem less of an exclusive figure removed from public view.  He or she will be privy first hand to different opinions and certainly be able to hear dissent which often is concealed by interested intermediaries denying the President the option of making decisions based on public responses.  This sense of inclusivity and interaction between the President and the people’s representatives in Parliament is what is missing in the system at present.  Now that fear of terrorism is removed, freer movement should be possible and the remoteness of the President a thing of the past.  In this context, the powers of the President remaining substantially the same, will not be objectionable as there will be greater transparency and accountability.  The ’democratization’ of the institution of the  Presidency gains further strength from the judicial verdict on presidential immunity which has cleared the air of a president who can do no wrong, and if he does, cannot be called to task.

Parliament will have its prestige restored and can assert itself not as a counting centre to retain support for the President but as one of the power centres that represent the people.   Members of Parliament become more accountable when the Chief Executive is physically present in Parliament and takes note of the performance of its members especially those who belong to the president’s political party.   Parliament becomes effective when an active and alert opposition is in charge, ready to take on the government and pinpoint deficiencies in the governance processes.   The power to initiate legislation, discuss and debate it in the House and in the standing committees, before the bill becomes a part of the legislative enactments in the country, must be restored.  A failure to do this will bring to question the purpose of maintaining this august body with such a large outlay in administrative structures and officials and financial liability.  The whole exercise of the time expended and money and energy wasted in the electioneering process will seem redundant.

The second chamber has long been recommended as the institution that gives representation to special interests groups who usually fight shy of contesting elections but whose inclusion will benefit the country.  It is a relief that the President has said that there will be no place in the National List for those who have failed to be elected at the parliamentary elections.   If a second chamber is introduced as part of the envisioned constitutional change it will be useful to have the membership partly nominated by the President on the recommendation of Parliament and partly through indirect elections by the House.  The nominations must include special interest groups as those with experience in the field of law, academia, the corporate sector, sciences and activists in gender specific issues.  This will work out as a support system to Parliament, where often such experience is missing but has the over representation of political interest.

The down-sizing of the cabinet to 35-40 ministers was the pre-election assurance of the President.  It is to be hoped that Ministers are appointed for their suitability for the respective positions and not as a pay off for political accommodation.   Since there is a demand for more ministerial positions, several Ministers of Projects can be appointed without the extra salaries and trappings of the ministerial rank.  At the end of two years, their performance should be evaluated for content, efficiency in implementation, honesty and accountability.  A similar assessment should be made of the cabinet ministers as well and those failing to achieve targets should be eased off and replaced by those from the Ministers of Projects.

Model Country

Unless and until such evaluations are performed for accountability those in positions of power move into a comfort zone mode.  The vision proclaimed by the President to make Sri Lanka the model country in development and progress in Asia and in the larger context of the world is only possible if the Cabinet consists of men and women of intelligence, integrity and devotion to the country.  The coming few years are pregnant with hope that as much as the President delivered on peace he will also deliver on portraying Sri Lanka as a model state.

Delivery and success is possible only if equity and justice, equal opportunity and human security for all is the principle by which the government conducts its affairs.  Equity is a broad principle which includes the many freedoms posited in a democratic state, beginning with participation in governmental processes to all the communities and right to information which endorses the freedom of the media.  The fourth estate must be unbiased and effectively carry out its traditional role of scrutinising and reporting facts as close to the truth as possible.  They must create the access to the Executive and to other nerve centres of governance and get their information and critically analyse and report it to the public.  The tendency to manufacture news to fit in with various agendas will remove all credibility in the sources that resort to such malpractices.

The access to justice and its arbitration for fair play by the judicial luminaries, at every level of the judicial hierarchy, peaking at the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice, must be constitutionally guided and held sacrosanct.  In the conduct of the judicial proceedings, justice must seem to be done with no space for partisan verdicts influenced by personal, political or economic interests.  This can be ensured by independence in the appointments, transfers and promotions of the judges and the enthroning of the principles of jurisprudence which will provide the rules for the operation of the system.  The judges at all levels need to be remunerated adequately so that no temptation is open to them to fill in their coffers by unorthodox means.  Ensuring justice is also by keeping judges from being lured by possible offers of positions at the end of their tenure which can lend to coloured judgements and denial of justice.  This country has maintained the best in the traditions of justice which came under the shadow of political partisanship for a brief period in the immediate past.  Of equally serious concern has been the few charges of bribery amongst the magistrates in the lower court which should never be permitted.

Equity and human security in a plural society means that all sections of the population must have the satisfaction of having a stake in governance; that people work together to achieve the collective goals and that they recognize that they are equal in all fields, political, economic and social; that they will have equal access to opportunities and that such principles are recognized in the laws of the country.   The 30 year conflict was mostly about this missing principle.  Devolution as a principle, for the political resolution of the majority minority configuration, has been enshrined, in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.  Many of its clauses have been implemented in all of Sri Lanka except in the North.  The East, since the end of the war, has held elections and has a provincial council in operation.  The North will probably follow suit soon enough.  This constitutional arrangement was primarily designed to satisfy the demands of the minority Tamils and, subsequently, that of the Muslims as well.   It is therefore imperative that this aspect is focused on without the distraction of other apprehensions.

Phobia of Devolution

In order to take away the phobia that devolution may spell the disembodiment of the unitary state, it is important to get the Provincial Councils in the entire country to be proactive and not be latched to political party directives. Two or three Provincial Councils can form a loose alliance and draw up plans for development, for sharing of educational resources, for the development of trade and investment within and with outside agencies.  Under such circumstances pooling of resources can offer them chances to plan on a larger scale than would have been possible if they did not work together.  The Northern and the Eastern Provincial Councils then take on a less intimidating countenance to the national contours as they can link with their Southern counterparts making a statement for integration into the national fold as well.  The Chief Ministers can meet together periodically in a structured system and make joint representation and linkages with the centre.  This may also reduce the necessity for the centre to make inroads into provincial powers to assert its authority to be in overall control.  A good understanding through such personal and systems interactions will perhaps remove the need to keep military personnel to head civilian positions and the security zones can be ruled out.  A basis of trust and amity amongst all players can be worked to push out suspicion and strategies and make forestalling one another, irrelevant.  Development is considered meaningful only when it reaches the lowest unit in the local government structure, where the people themselves can identify their needs and prioritize their strategies for implementation.  Gradually the link in the ladder from the village unit to the provincial and to the centre can be one of inter-connected, national interest based programs, devoid of political party or personal interest.  This is how leadership can be built up and the natural spin off of patriotism be nurtured as an enduring stratagem.

Even if we cannot hope for a Gandhi we can strengthen the hand of the elected president who can through his experience be assisted to deliver the goods to the people.  If the President who delivered on peace can keep his focus on the total development of the country, the human, economic, social and cultural aspirations of the people, this would be the hour for Sri Lanka.  Like the many divisive tendencies that abound in the country, the fellow travelers of the President must not be given the space to detract him by introducing other focus and visions on a personal level to taint the presidency.  Some of the desires and hopes on the personal front will fall in place when events play itself out over time, if the players demonstrate their individual strengths. The President’s focus must be on the national scene to secure the aspirations for the country- Sri Lanka as a model for Asia.

Images courtesy of www.businesstoday.lk