Will it be a permanent feature in our political system?
It is doubtful whether elections alone can resolve the major
problems in politics today, namely the instability emanating from the inherent
faults of the system of government which got further complicated with the
nineteenth amendment to the Constitution.
By Gamini
Abeywardane
The tussle between the President and the Parliament that has been going on for several years, plunging the country into a deep crisis, has come to a climax again with the on-going parliamentary enquiry into the Easter Sunday terrorist attack.
The key officials of the security and intelligence
establishment who have been called upon to testify before the parliamentary
select committee are between the Devil and the deep blue sea. On the one hand,
the President reprimands them not to participate in it, while on the other the
Speaker reminds them of the possible repercussions, if they do not obey the
dictates of the Parliament.
While this drama is going on, President in protest has
refused to hold the weekly Cabinet meetings bringing every major government
activity and decision making process to a grinding halt. The Leader of the
Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for a parliamentary vote backed by two
thirds of the members enabling a snap election to resolve the matter, while the
government led by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has proposed a
parliamentary resolution compelling the President to have the Cabinet meetings.
A similar situation arose several months ago when the
President tried to dissolve the Parliament and call for a general election
which was resisted by the Parliament on the ground the President had no power
to do so. Finally the matter had to be resolved with the intervention of the
country’s highest courts and the country suffered heavily due to the
uncertainty that prevailed for 51 days.
Whatever the consequences for the country, it is unlikely
that the UNP will agree to have an early parliamentary election. In all
probability what is likely to happen is dragging on the weak government as it
happened in the past several years, with no benefit for the country. In between
there is a possibility of some of these issues further escalating and ending up
in courts.
In the current complex political landscape, a worst scenario
would be to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections and then to end
up in a similar situation again with the President elected from one party and a
different party obtaining the majority in the Parliament. Though remote, these
are not impossibilities in view of the fact that people are completely fed up
with the current set of parliamentarians as well as the political system.
That way it is doubtful whether elections alone can resolve
the major problems in politics today, namely the instability emanating from the
inherent faults of the system of government which got further complicated with
the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution.
Irony is that the Constitution which JR Jayewardene
introduced with the intention of giving political stability to the country has
ultimately resulted in destabilizing the country. Unlike in the Westminster
system, under the current set up Parliament is incapable of changing the
government which includes the presidency as well and any state of instability
can get prolonged without a solution. That is exactly what we are experiencing
today.
The solution may be to modify the nineteenth amendment to
the Constitution or to go back to the Westminster system. However, none of
these changes are likely to take place with all the main players in politics
looking at the impending elections with the prime objective of getting into the
hot seats of power.
Some academics have argued that with the nineteenth
amendment President’s powers are drastically pruned down and the next President
will not be able to hold any Cabinet portfolios and will be more or less a
ceremonial figurehead. However, such a scenario is unlikely as the President
will continue to be elected directly by the people while he will also remain as
the head of the Cabinet.
The executive presidency has not been officially abolished
and the Supreme Court in its determination on the nineteenth amendment has
specifically stated that certain powers of the presidency cannot be removed
without holding a referendum. That way if a President is elected from a
different party he will have substantial clout to put a spoke in the Prime
Minister’s wheel as is happening now.
The other major issue is that some of the provisions in the
hurriedly prepared nineteenth amendment are not clear-cut and could lead to
confusion and more legal issues again and again, in case the President and the
Prime Minister are elected from two different political parties.
Today we are suffering the disastrous effects of trying to
be a constitutional laboratory by drastically changing the system of government
the country had been gradually accustomed to since the introduction of
universal franchise in 1931.
The Constitution that J R Jayewardene envisaged for whatever
good or bad reasons has also been haphazardly modified by too many amendments
within a too short a period distorting the spirit of the document. Most of these amendments were to suit the whims
and fancies of those in power and not introduced in the interest of the
country.
In this situation it is difficult to expect any winning
party at a future election to modify the system for the greater interest of the
country. The tendency we have witnessed in the past is the winner will try to
consolidate his or her position during his tenure irrespective of whatever the
future consequences for the country.
As it is, the most suitable thing is for all major political parties to get together and do the necessary changes to the political system to bring about some political stability. This can be done by amending the existing post nineteenth amendment presidential system or by reverting back to the time-tested Westminster model adjusted according to the current needs of our country
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