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| Sunday, 5 May 2002 |
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Kings and President Premadasa by George Leslie Ranasinghe There have been kings in all countries and most of them have justified
the confidence placed in them by their subjects. In war and Intensive studies of kings and their activities have been done in England. King James I who reigned in England from 1603 to 1625 propounded the theory of the Divine Right of kings in order to counteract revolutionary campaigns aimed at undermining the governments of existing rulers. The theory insisted that monarchy is a divinely ordained institution, that the hereditary right of kingship derived from royal parents cannot be done a way with, that kings are accountable to Divine authority alone and that subjects must passively obey the king. The theory was so widely resented by contemporary intellectuals that they ridiculed it by calling it the Divine Right of kings to govern wrong. They stated further that the king is bound by natural law as well as by tradition and custom but king James retorted that he was above the law. In 1610 he told the parliament that just as a father can freely dispose of his inheritance to his children a king also can deal freely with his subjects. Charles I reigned in England from 1625 to 1649. As the son of James I he continued to emphasise the Divine Right of Kings and made numerous enemies and in the civil war that ensued Charles was beheaded. (Louis XIV of France suffered a similar fate) James II son of Charles I could reign in England for three years only - 1685 to 1688. He had to flee for safety making room, for William III to become King of England. The Bill of Rights was passed in Parliament in his reign and the concept of constitutional monarchy came to be accepted. It declared that the king was the head of state but was expected to conform to the requirements of the constitution adopted by parliament. Supremacy When George I and after him George II who were of German origin came to the throne they found it impossible to conduct Ministers meetings in England. A senior Minister was then allowed to preside over such meetings. Thereafter he was recognised as the Prime Minister while the entire group of Ministers became known as the Cabinet. As a result the king's supremacy in matters of state receded. The idea of constitutional monarchy was not consistently remembered by everyone. For instance when George II's grandson was preparing to ascend the throne as George III his mother admonished him "George be a King." She said it seriously and he too took it very seriously. So he began exercising his authority in and out season and made enemies everywhere. When tea was exported to America (then directly ruled by England) he insisted that American colonies pay a tax on such tea. The colonies objected to the levy and when the ship arrived in Boston harbour they went on board and hurled all the bags of tea into the sea. A crisis followed and developed into the American War of Independence, in which England was defeated and was compelled to grant political freedom to America. There were worse kings in other countries - tribal chieftains, rajas, maharajas and despots of all types. In Sri Lanka we had a better set of ruling monarchs who were daily reminded by the people to be righteous - 'Raja bhavatu dhammiko'. Benevolent weather, material prosperity and righteous rule formed a desirable chain. From 377 BC to 307 BC King Pandukabhaya ruled Sri Lanka ensuring equal and just treatment to all citizens including both earlier and later settlers even of non-Sinhalese origin. To the Yaksha leaders Kaladevala and Cittaraga he offered fraternity and fair treatment. As a unique way of showing his solidarity with people who preferred their own forms of worship Pandukabhaya set a part at the eastern gate of his capital a banyan tree for special respect as the abode of Vaishrawana and a palmyrah tree as sacred to Yaksha Vyadhadeva. Kammaradeva was similarly honoured as patron deity of blacksmiths. The Yakshini Pachchimarajini was recognised as the guardian deity at the western gate of Anuradhaprua. He organised housing schemes for the Nigante Jains Jotiya and Kumbhanda for members of the Paribbajaka asetic groups, for Ajivaka hermits and for Brahmin immigrants. He did everything within his power to improve the living conditions of villagers. Some of our later kings had to grapple with problems arising from neighbouring lands and had to be constantly on the defensive toward off hostile attacks. In the centuries that followed subjects were expected to come to official centres to get their problems solved but President Premadasa adopted a new technique of going and meeting the people directly to solve their pressing problems speedily. As his very name implies love and service to the people are the watchwords in his lifestyle. "I am the servant of the people", he said respectfully. |
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in peace such
kings have worked for the welfare of the people over whom they exercised
sovereignty, though history has records of kings who elevated themselves
to be emperors by subjugating weaker nations.
