Features
New Revolt in the Temple and new Catholic Action
20A troubles:
by Rajan Philips
No one knows who the mice are and who the men are in the current government. But everyone knows that the best laid plans of both – for the 20th Amendment, are going astray. The amendment may still get passed, but the process which began with a bang is teetering to a whimper. The passage may well be a pathetic and Pyrrhic victory. The Administration will have to show how the restored presidential powers (not that they needed any restoration) are going to dramatically change the government’s scrambling responses to the resurgence of Covid-19 and the economic crises.
Basil Rajapaksa may still return to parliament as a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and the US, but many a face will be made behind MPs’ masks on the government side in parliament, while the opposition MPs will keep their masks and howl Basil greetings at any and every opportunity. Face making behind masks will extend to cabinet meetings. To be fair, the dual citizen will also be at liberty to make return faces at his patriotic detractors from behind his own mask.
All in all, it will be a subdued return by Basil Rajapaksa (BR) to parliament and not the triumphant one that he might have been looking for. Most people in the country will see the return of Basil Rajapaksa to parliament without relinquishing his US citizenship as the only outcome from the 20th Amendment. They will be hard pressed to see any other significant or nationally beneficial outcome. The most significant development so far on the 20th Amendment front is the opposition to it emanating from within the government’s own ranks in parliament and from within its support fortresses outside parliament.
The government has virtually won the Supreme Court battle, even managing to allegedly leak the Court’s ruling to the media before it was presented to parliament. It is still confident of mobilizing a two-thirds majority in parliament. But outside those forums, the government is losing credibility. There are mini revolts in the temple, and a Catholic Action that is different from the 1960s. Severally and together, the two new developments will have interesting implications for the 21st century Rajapaksa yugaya in Sri Lankan politics. It is already into two decades, the common span for dominant family politics. Nascent signs of Rajapaksa fatigue in the body politic are not too inconspicuous.
Daily Disenchantment
There have been daily waves of disenchantment. The first to emerge was at the government parliamentary group meeting on Friday, October 9. After the weekend, on Monday October 12, came the salvo from the Amarapura-Ramanna Samagri Maha Sangha Sabha. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference came out on Tuesday, October 14, calling for the full withdrawal of the 20th Amendment and a new national endeavour towards yet another new constitution. The National Christian Council made its views known on Wednesday, October 15, and on the same day the Women and Media Collective released a detailed statement on the flaws of the 20th Amendment. There may have been others after I finished writing this piece on Thursday.
While all these objections are quite substantial, the statement of the Amarapura-Ramanna Sabha included an excellent summary of the positive accomplishments of the 19th Amendment. The five 19A accomplishments listed by the Sabha are worth more than a few looks: (1) Re-introducing the Constitutional restriction for two terms for a President by Article 31(2), which had been removed under the 18th Amendment; (2) Restricting foreign citizens from becoming Members of Parliament or President by Article 91 (c) XIII; (3) Establishment of a Constitutional Council to oversee appointments to important positions in public service; (4) Establishment of Independent Commissions by Article 41 (b) VI; and (5) Subjecting the appointment of Judges to superior courts by President, to the approval of the Constitutional Council by Article 41 C.
One omission in the list, from the standpoint of separation of powers, is 19A’s check on the President’s power of dissolution over parliament. There is as much innocence as there is ignorance on this matter, at every level and in all branches of the state. The 1972 Constitution gave the President, then only a Head of State, the flexibility to deny a Prime Minister’s request for dissolving parliament within a year after a general election. This provision was included solely based on the experience of the 1960 March and July parliamentary elections, and to avoid a repetition in the future. JR Jayewardene quite mistakenly borrowed the 1972 provision and turned into a presidential power to dissolve parliament any time after one year of a parliamentary election. This power of dissolution is utterly incompatible with the separation of powers which JRJ proudly enshrined in the 1978 Constitution.
The 19th Amendment virtually eliminated the power of dissolution by precluding the President from dissolving parliament for four and half years (after an election) unless requested by a parliamentary resolution passed with two-thirds majority. The 20th Amendment first rescinded the 19A change, and is now offering a compromise under which the President cannot dissolve parliament for two and a half years (instead of four and half) unless requested by a parliamentary resolution passed with a simple majority (not two-thirds majority).
For separation of powers to mean anything the executive should have no power of dissolution over the legislature. That is the system in the US, where there is a ‘non-dissolution’ Congress, that faces elections at prescribed intervals – two years for the House; and a staggered term of six years in the Senate, with elections held every two years for a third of the Senators. Every leap year, the Congress elections coincide with the presidential election which is held every four years.
A practical approach in Sri Lanka would be to hold presidential and parliamentary elections at the same time every five years. The two elected institutions will have to learn to work together between elections regardless of who holds the majority in parliament. If they cannot, one of them will have to go. And it cannot be parliament unless the President’s spoken word becomes law, which would be transmitted orally, and the country is rendered legally illiterate. No pettifogging for fees over written laws, and no fussing over a written constitution.
Pathetic Purposelessness
A common point of contention among all critical government supporters is the 20th Amendment’s removal of the 19A provision barring dual citizens from becoming MPs or Presidents. Vasudeva Nanayakkara momentarily found his long-lost young voice in picking apart the ad hominem Basil clause at the government parliamentary group meeting. The Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi reportedly contradicted Vasu and spoke out for BR, calling the 19A provision a mala fide insertion targeting the Rajapaksas. She is specially qualified to talk about mala fide constitutional clauses while (nominally) presiding over bona fide staffing maladies in the Ministry of Health and the Medical Research Institute. Per usual, Mahinda Rajapaksa had to step in to partially salvage the matter by offering to remove the dual-citizenship restriction only for MPs but retain it for future presidential candidates.
But that does not seem to be satisfying anybody. The whole absurdity of the original Basil-clause is in the mockery it makes of the supreme sacrifice that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to make in relinquishing his US citizenship to become president of Sri Lanka. As originally drafted, by the still unknown ghost drafter, the Basil-clause would render any dual citizen to be eligible to be a presidential contender in future. For now, the Basil-clause will primarily serve Basil to become a nationally listed, but unelected, dual citizen MP. Should he decide to have a kick at the presidential can down the road, he may have to figure out a new scheme to score that future goal. He will have no problem finding a creatively pleading lawyer and a creatively receptive bench to make things happen as and when they are needed. There will be little purchase, however, among the people. They are nervous about the virus, anxious over economic uncertainty, and are getting tired of amateurish constitutional games.
It is fair to say that the discrediting of the 19th Amendment is entirely attributable to the joint failure of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe. It should be equally fair to say that with the two men themselves discredited and out of the picture (albeit Sirisena is still loitering in the shadows of the SLPP), and the government rushing to repeal and replace 19A including many of its positive provisions, informed sections of the public are standing up to defend the threatened provisions.
The government’s pathetic purposelessness behind the 20th Amendment was demonstrated fittingly by the principal Rajapaksa sidekick, GL Pieris, at the government parliamentary group meeting where he apparently argued that 20A is necessary because the IGP and the Attorney General cannot be removed from their posts under 19A. No one took the old law professor seriously; nor did anyone take Pieris’s politically aspiring understudy Ali Sabry seriously. According to multiple media reports, Pieris and Sabry co-anchored a power point presentation to the group to explain the nuts and bolts of the Twentieth Amendment. Those who had misgivings were not impressed. And they asked questions.
President Rajapaksa was also not impressed by those who dared to ask questions. That seems to be the main takeaway from the meeting in the many reports about it. The President reportedly went on the attack as the best of form defense, with or without the portfolio, and especially harsh on Gevindu Kumaratunga, the viyathmaga advocate of a brand, new constitution. “I want to deliver,” was a presidential refrain throughout the meeting, according to multiple reports.
Somehow, the President has got it in his head that the 20th Amendment should also be one of his deliverables. He has also got in his head that a whole new constitution is an even larger deliverable that is expected of him. These burdens are quite unnecessary, even unfortunate. Nobody expects Gotabaya Rajapaksa to be a 21st century Colvin R de Silva, or JR Jayewardene.
Hopefully, it is not too late before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa realizes either on his own counsel, or others’ advice, that people will not hold it against him if he does not deliver either on 20A or a whole new constitution. What the people will not forget, or electorally forgive, would be the President’s failure to protect their health from the coronavirus and protect their households from economic destitution. Anything less will not pass muster with the public. The widespread criticisms against the 20th Amendment are not going to bring down the government. But they are strong warnings of future storms.
Author
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There’s an ill more dangerous and pervasive than the Coronavirus that’s currently sweeping Sri Lanka. That is the fear to express one’s convictions. Across the public sector of the country in particular many persons holding high office are stringently regulating and controlling the voices of their consciences and this bodes ill for all and the country.
The corrupting impact of fear was discussed in this column a couple of weeks ago when dealing with the military coup in Myanmar. It stands to the enduring credit of ousted Myanmarese Head of Government Aung San Suu Kyi that she, perhaps for the first time in the history of modern political thought, singled out fear, and not power, as the principal cause of corruption within the individual; powerful or otherwise.
To be sure, power corrupts but the corrupting impact of fear is graver and more devastating. For instance, the fear in a person holding ministerial office or in a senior public sector official, that he would lose position and power as a result of speaking out his convictions and sincere beliefs on matters of the first importance, would lead to a country’s ills going unaddressed and uncorrected.
Besides, the individual concerned would be devaluing himself in the eyes of all irrevocably and revealing himself to be a person who would be willing to compromise his moral integrity for petty worldly gain or a ‘mess of pottage’. This happens all the while in Lankan public life. Some of those who have wielded and are wielding immense power in Sri Lanka leave very much to be desired from these standards.
It could be said that fear has prevented Sri Lanka from growing in every vital respect over the decades and has earned for itself the notoriety of being a directionless country.
All these ills and more are contained in the current controversy in Sri Lanka over the disposal of the bodies of Covid victims, for example. The Sri Lankan polity has no choice but to abide by scientific advice on this question. Since authorities of the standing of even the WHO have declared that the burial of the bodies of those dying of Covid could not prove to be injurious to the wider public, the Sri Lankan health authorities could go ahead and sanction the burying of the bodies concerned. What’s preventing the local authorities from taking this course since they claim to be on the side of science? Who or what are they fearing? This is the issue that’s crying out to be probed and answered.
Considering the need for absolute truthfulness and honesty on the part of all relevant persons and quarters in matters such as these, the latter have no choice but to resign from their positions if they are prevented from following the dictates of their consciences. If they are firmly convinced that burials could bring no harm, they are obliged to take up the position that burials should be allowed.
If any ‘higher authority’ is preventing them from allowing burials, our ministers and officials are conscience-bound to renounce their positions in protest, rather than behave compromisingly and engage in ‘double think’ and ‘double talk’. By adopting the latter course they are helping none but keeping the country in a state of chronic uncertainty, which is a handy recipe for social instabiliy and division.
In the Sri Lankan context, the failure on the part of the quarters that matter to follow scientific advice on the burials question could result in the aggravation of Islamophobia, or hatred of the practitioners of Islam, in the country. Sri Lanka could do without this latter phobia and hatred on account of its implications for national stability and development. The 30 year war against separatist forces was all about the prevention by military means of ‘nation-breaking’. The disastrous results for Sri Lanka from this war are continuing to weigh it down and are part of the international offensive against Sri Lanka in the UNHCR.
However, Islamophobia is an almost world wide phenomenon. It was greatly strengthened during Donald Trump’s presidential tenure in the US. While in office Trump resorted to the divisive ruling strategy of quite a few populist authoritarian rulers of the South. Essentially, the manoeuvre is to divide and rule by pandering to the racial prejudices of majority communities.
It has happened continually in Sri Lanka. In the initial post-independence years and for several decades after, it was a case of some populist politicians of the South whipping-up anti-Tamil sentiments. Some Tamil politicians did likewise in respect of the majority community. No doubt, both such quarters have done Sri Lanka immeasurable harm. By failing to follow scientific advice on the burial question and by not doing what is right, Sri Lanka’s current authorities are opening themselves to the charge that they are pandering to religious extremists among the majority community.
The murderous, destructive course of action adopted by some extremist sections among Muslim communities world wide, including of course Sri Lanka, has not earned the condemnation it deserves from moderate Muslims who make-up the preponderant majority in the Muslim community. It is up to moderate opinion in the latter collectivity to come out more strongly and persuasively against religious extremists in their midst. It will prove to have a cementing and unifying impact among communities.
It is not sufficiently appreciated by governments in the global South in particular that by voicing for religious and racial unity and by working consistently towards it, they would be strengthening democratic development, which is an essential condition for a country’s growth in all senses.
A ‘divided house’ is doomed to fall; this is the lesson of history. ‘National security’ cannot be had without human security and peaceful living among communities is central to the latter. There cannot be any ‘double talk’ or ‘politically correct’ opinions on this question. Truth and falsehood are the only valid categories of thought and speech.
Those in authority everywhere claiming to be democratic need to adopt a scientific outlook on this issue as well. Studies conducted on plural societies in South Asia, for example, reveal that the promotion of friendly, cordial ties among communities invariably brings about healing among estranged groups and produces social peace. This is the truth that is waiting to be acted upon.
Author
By Sanjeewa Jayaweera
It was on 3rd January 1972 that our family arrived in Karachi from Moscow. Our departure from Moscow had been delayed for a few weeks due to the military confrontation between Pakistan and India. It ended on 16th December 1971. After that, international flights were not permitted for some time.
The contrast between Moscow and Karachi was unbelievable. First and foremost, Moscow’s temperature was near minus 40 degrees centigrade, while in Karachi, it was sunny and a warm 28 degrees centigrade. However, what struck us most was the extreme warmth with which the airport authorities greeted our family. As my father was a diplomat, we were quickly ushered to the airport’s VIP Lounge. We were in transit on our way to Rawalpindi, the airport serving the capital of Islamabad.
We quickly realized that the word “we are from Sri Lanka” opened all doors just as saying “open sesame” gained entry to Aladdin’s cave! The broad smile, extreme courtesy, and genuine warmth we received from the Pakistani people were unbelievable.
This was all to do with Mrs Sirima Bandaranaike’s decision to allow Pakistani aircraft to land in Colombo to refuel on the way to Dhaka in East Pakistan during the military confrontation between Pakistan and India. It was a brave decision by Mrs Bandaranaike (Mrs B), and the successive governments and Sri Lanka people are still enjoying the fruits of it. Pakistan has been a steadfast and loyal supporter of our country. They have come to our assistance time and again in times of great need when many have turned their back on us. They have indeed been an “all-weather” friend of our country.
Getting back to 1972, I was an early beneficiary of Pakistani people’s love for Sri Lankans. I failed the entrance exam to gain entry to the only English medium school in Islamabad! However, when I met the Principal, along with my father, he said, “Sanjeewa, although you failed the entrance exam, I will this time make an exception as Sri Lankans are our dear friends.” After that, the joke around the family dinner table was that I owed my education in Pakistan to Mrs B!
At school, my brother and I were extended a warm welcome and always greeted “our good friends from Sri Lanka.” I felt when playing cricket for our college; our runs were cheered more loudly than of others.
One particular incident that I remember well was when the Embassy received a telex from the Foreign inistry. It requested that our High Commissioner seek an immediate meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Zulifikar Ali Bhutto (ZB), and convey a message from Mrs B. The message requested that an urgent shipment of rice be dispatched to Sri Lanka as there would be an imminent rice shortage. As the Ambassador was not in the station, the responsibility devolved on my father.
It usually takes about a week or more to get an audience with the Prime Minister (PM) of a foreign country due to their busy schedule. However, given the urgency, my father spoke to the Foreign Ministry’s Permanent Sectary, who fortunately was our neighbour and sought an urgent appointment. My father received a call from the PM’s secretary around 10 P.M asking him to come over to the PM’s residence. My father met ZB around midnight. ZB was about to retire to bed and, as such, was in his pyjamas and gown enjoying a cigar! He had greeted my father and had asked, “Mr Jayaweera, what can we do for great friend Madam Bandaranaike?. My father conveyed the message from Colombo and quietly mentioned that there would be riots in the country if there is no rice!
ZB had immediately got the Food Commissioner of Pakistan on the line and said, “I want a shipload of rice to be in Colombo within the next 72 hours!” The Food Commissioner reverted within a few minutes, saying that nothing was available and the last export shipment had left the port only a few hours ago to another country. ZB had instructed to turn the ship around and send it to Colombo. This despite protests from the Food Commissioner about terms and conditions of the Letter of Credit prohibiting non-delivery. Sri Lanka got its delivery of rice!
The next was the visit of Mrs B to Pakistan. On arrival in Rawalpindi airport, she was given a hero’s welcome, which Pakistan had previously only offered to President Gaddafi of Libya, who financially backed Pakistan with his oil money. That day, I missed school and accompanied my parents to the airport. On our way, we witnessed thousands of people had gathered by the roadside to welcome Mrs B.
When we walked to the airport’s tarmac, thousands of people were standing in temporary stands waving Sri Lanka and Pakistan flags and chanting “Sri Lanka Pakistan Zindabad.” The noise emanating from the crowd was as loud and passionate as the cheering that the Pakistani cricket team received during a test match. It was electric!
I believe she was only the second head of state given the privilege of addressing both assemblies of Parliament. The other being Gaddafi. There was genuine affection from Mrs B amongst the people of Pakistan.
I always remember the indefatigable efforts of Mr Abdul Haffez Kardar, a cabinet minister and the President of the Pakistan Cricket Board. From around 1973 onwards, he passionately championed Sri Lanka’s cause to be admitted as a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and granted test status. Every year, he would propose at the ICC’s annual meeting, but England and Australia’s veto kept us out until 1981.
I always felt that our Cricket Board made a mistake by not inviting Pakistan to play our inaugural test match. We should have appreciated Mr Kardar and Pakistan’s efforts. In 1974 the Pakistan board invited our team for a tour involving three test matches and a few first-class games. Most of those who played in our first test match was part of that tour, and no doubt gained significant exposure playing against a highly talented Pakistani team.
Several Pakistani greats were part of the Pakistan and India team that played a match soon after the Central Bank bomb in Colombo to prove that it was safe to play cricket in Colombo. It was a magnificent gesture by both Pakistan and India. Our greatest cricket triumph was in Pakistan when we won the World Cup in 1996. I am sure the players and those who watched the match on TV will remember the passionate support our team received that night from the Pakistani crowd. It was like playing at home!
I also recall reading about how the Pakistani government air freighted several Multi Barrell artillery guns and ammunition to Sri Lanka when the A rmy camp in Jaffna was under severe threat from the LTTE. This was even more important than the shipload of rice that ZB sent. This was crucial as most other countries refused to sell arms to our country during the war.
Time and again, Pakistan has steadfastly supported our country’s cause at the UNHCR. No doubt this year, too, their diplomats will work tirelessly to assist our country.
We extend a warm welcome to Mr Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He is a truly inspirational individual who was undoubtedly an excellent cricketer. Since retirement from cricket, he has decided to get involved in politics, and after several years of patiently building up his support base, he won the last parliamentary elections. I hope that just as much as he galvanized Sri Lankan cricketers, his political journey would act as a catalyst for people like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene to get involved in politics. Cricket has been called a “gentleman’s game.” Whilst politics is far from it!.
Author
Believe me, seeing certain videos, on social media, depicting action, on the dance floor, at some of these entertainment venues, got me wondering whether this Coronavirus pandemic is REAL!
To those having a good time, at these particular venues, and, I guess, the management, as well, what the world is experiencing now doesn’t seem to be their concerned.
Obviously, such irresponsible behaviour could create more problems for those who are battling to halt the spread of Covid-19, and the new viriant of Covid, in our part of the world.
The videos, on display, on social media, show certain venues, packed to capacity – with hardly anyone wearing a mask, and social distancing…only a dream..
How can one think of social distancing while gyrating, on a dance floor, that is over crowded!
If this trend continues, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Coronavirus makes its presence felt…at such venues.
And, then, what happens to the entertainment scene, and those involved in this field, especially the musicians? No work, whatsoever!
Lots of countries have closed nightclubs, and venues, where people gather, in order to curtail the spread of this deadly virus that has already claimed the lives of thousands.
Thailand did it and the country is still having lots of restrictions, where entertainment is concerned, and that is probably the reason why Thailand has been able to control the spread of the Coronavirus.
With a population of over 69 million, they have had (so far), a little over 25,000 cases, and 83 deaths, while we, with a population of around 21 million, have over 80,000 cases, and more than 450 deaths.
I’m not saying we should do away with entertainment – totally – but we need to follow a format, connected with the ‘new normal,’ where masks and social distancing are mandatory requirements at these venues. And, dancing, I believe, should be banned, at least temporarily, as one can’t maintain the required social distance, while on the dance floor, especially after drinks.
Police spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana keeps emphasising, on TV, radio, and in the newspapers, the need to adhere to the health regulations, now in force, and that those who fail to do so would be penalised.
He has also stated that plainclothes officers would move around to apprehend such offenders.
Perhaps, he should instruct his officers to pay surprise visits to some of these entertainment venues.
He would certainly have more than a bus load of offenders to be whisked off for PCR/Rapid Antigen tests!
I need to quote what Dr. H.T. Wickremasinghe said in his article, published in The Island of Tuesday, February 16th, 2021:
“…let me conclude, while emphasising the need to continue our general public health measures, such as wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding crowded gatherings, to reduce the risk of contact with an infected person.
“There is no science to beat common sense.”
But…do some of our folks have this thing called COMMON SENSE!
