12/13/2016

Srilanka:Preparingthegroundforconstitutionalreform

Srilanka: Preparing the

ground for constitutional
reform
by Jehan Perera | Published: 22:30, Dec 13,2016 | Updated: 22:53, Dec 12,2016

THERE seems to be a rethinking on part of the government regarding the nature

and extent of constitutional reform. The SLFP is of the stance that the constitution
should be amended without going in for a referendum. SLFP media spokesman
minister Dilan Perera said, We have spoken with the president and taken a clear
decision on this. Electoral reforms must take place and a new system introduced
and we believe in maximum devolution of power within a unitary state. We have
also made it clear that we will not support the merger of provinces or to lessen
the power of the governors to make it a nominal position. For its part, the UNP
has taken the position that it would support a system where the office of
executive president would continue with special powers that the 19th amendment
to the constitution had conferred.
A decision taken at a special meeting of the UNP working committee presided over
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by party leader and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is that in keeping with
its manifesto presented at the last general election, it would work towards
enacting a new constitution, where the prime minister would be answerable to
both the parliament and the executive. It also reiterated its support for greater
devolution of power within a unitary state, and an electoral system which was a
cross between the first-past-the-post and the proportional representation system,
which the proposed 20th amendment to the constitution has envisaged. These
positions taken by the UNP appear to be a compromise in deference to the
position held by leading members of the SLFP.
The statements above indicate that the political parties that constitute the
government seem to be lowering their sights. This would be unfortunate. There
appears to be apprehensions within the government that referendums around the
world have not gone well, the most recent being the resignation of the Italian
prime minister after losing a referendum on constitutional change. People have
voted for things other than the question they were asked in it. The government
position is that if that happens, change will amount to nothing. However, Sri Lanka
needs reforms that are fundamental. There is a need to find a solution to the
protracted ethnic conflict. There needs to be away to check and balance the power
of politicians. Lord Actons pronouncement in the 19th century, that power
corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, holds true today as it held then.
The financial corruption and human rights violations of past dispensations are still
fresh in the minds of people.
New messages
THE former government, and the joint opposition to which it has metamorphosed
today, have taken the view that foreign interference and the division of the
country are threatening Sri Lanka again. They are replaying the message of the
past. However, for the past two years a key message going to the people at large
has been a different and more positive one that focuses on the crucial importance
of ethnic reconciliation. Reducing the level of tension and mistrust between the
communities, and preventing a resumption of violence is the main priority if a
stable economic environment is to be obtained in which economic investments and
growth can take off. The leaders of the SLFP and UNP, president Maithripala
Sirisena and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe respectively, have consistently
spoken against racism and ethnic nationalist sentiment.
There is an unprecedented readiness in most of society for a system of government
that would strengthen the independence of state institutions particularly those
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concerned with law enforcement, particularly the judiciary and the police, so that
they can do their work without discrimination and without political interference.
The decision of the constitutional council to probe the conduct of the inspector
general of police who was caught on live television acquiescing with the demand
of someone more senior than himself, whom he addressed as Sir, was in
accordance with popular sentiment. Ideally, the independence of the police will be
strengthened as a result of the probe.
Another reason the present time is opportune for constitutional reform is that the
government comprises an unprecedented coalition of the two biggest political
parties in the country. The history of efforts to resolve the ethnic conflict that led
to three decades of internal war was the failure of these two parties to collaborate
to find a mutually acceptable solution. This was not for a dearth of enlightened
leaders. The two parties had leaders who tried to solve the problems with the
agreement of the representatives of the Tamil people. SWRD Bandaranaike in 1957
and Dudley Senanayake in 1965 were pre-eminent leaders of the SLFP- and the
UNP-led government respectively. Both could not obtain the necessary bipartisan
support of the other party, and so the agreements reached could not be sustained.
However, today, popular sentiment in the country has undergone a change.

Opportune time
THE seven years since the end of the war have been ones that are free of armed
militancy, large scale violence or any sign of a revolt. This makes the present time
an opportune one in which to involve the masses of people in a constitutional
reform process that addresses the ethnic conflict as a matter of priority. The
warmth of the relationship between the top rungs of the government and
members of the Tamil and Muslim political parties has permeated the entire
electorate. This moment needs to be taken. It might be difficult for the ethnic
minority parties to come to terms with a constitutional reform that does not
address ethnic minority issues.
As part of its ongoing peacebuilding effort, this past month I and my colleagues at
the National Peace Council conducted four Truth Forums in Jaffna, Batticaloa,
Kandy and Matara. In each of these districts, inter religious committees that had
been set up several years earlier, were tasked with identifying those who had been
victims in the past and persuading them to share their stories with the larger
community. This was to generate empathy for the other within the larger
community. It was also to convey the message that civil society itself needs to take
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on responsibility for assisting the victims, rather than leaving it all to the
government. When people share their stories of enforced victimhood and what
happened to them and to their loved ones it generates empathy in the listeners
who get to know at first hand the sufferings that others have gone through.
Another reason for organising the Truth Forums was to prepare the general
population for the anticipated government-appointed truth commission. In
responding to the international demand for accountability of past violations of
human rights and war crimes, the government has said it will establish a truth
commission to be a part of the reconciliation mechanisms. Over 40 countries that
have suffered war and mass violations of human rights have appointed truth
commissions over the past four decades to deal with post-war issues of justice and
accountability. The purpose of these mechanisms is not only to placate the
international communitys sense of justice and accountability. It is also to involve
the people in the process of transformation that accompanies an attitudinal shift
from a divided past to a shared future.
Never again
WHAT was significant about the Truth Forums was that they were taken seriously
by all who participated in them. Between 80 to 100 people drawn from different
walks of life, including public servants, members of community based organisations
and media attended the events in each of the places where they were conducted,
which were presided over by retired judges or public servants. Their active and
sober participation was an indication that the Sri Lankan society is ready and able
to take responsibility to heal the wounds of war. The time frame of the story
telling by victims was not limited to the last phase of the war. It also included the
suicide bombing incident that took place in Matara in 2009, the eviction of
Muslims from the north in 1990 and the JVP insurrection of 1988. Over and over
again those who spoke, either as victims or as observers said this must never
happen again. The victims who testified will be expecting some remedial measures
to be taken to address their urgent needs.
Apart from saying never again, those who participated in the Truth Forums said
that something had to be done to address the needs of the victims. Government
servants who attended, though not in their official capacities, pledged that they
would do what was in their power to help the victims from within the structures
of government. Community leaders said they would see what they could do to
follow up on the disclosures made. However, along with these positive indications
of the willingness of the community to take on the task of reconciliation, there
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were also intrusions of harsher realities. The ability of civil society organisations to
solve peoples problems cannot be compared to that of the government. In one
location, the manager of the conference hall was visited by the security forces.
They questioned and intimidated him so much that he said he would no longer
provide facilities for such a programme.
The positive outcome of the civil society-led Truth Forums points to the promise
of the governments truth commission which is about to be established. It also
suggests that instead of a single and centralised truth commission, a decentralised
process of truth seeking could also be envisaged. Alongside the main truth
commission there could be local-level truth commissions that are entrusted to local
community and religious leaders and which feed into the government-led truth
seeking process. The conviction that the violence and human rights violations of
the past must never again happen can capture the mass imagination to facilitate
constitutional reform that unlocks the door to a lasting political solution to the
decades long ethnic conflict.
Jehan Perera is the executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri
Lanka.

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