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| Sunday, 8 September 2002 |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 1 429239 / 331181 Fax : 94 1 429230 Constitutional dilemmas The infighting at the top level of the Sri Lankan State could not have been more obvious than last week when, at the same time the Government lifted the ban on the LTTE, the President of the Republic reiterated her opposition to the de-proscription. While the de-proscription has now been put into effect and other countries have already expressed their support for the move, the ineffectiveness of the President's pronouncement on the subject starkly portrays the serious debility of the much-vaunted 1978 Constitution. Governance in Sri Lanka has, therefore, to take place without the full clarity of its constitutional propriety. The effectiveness of constitutional power has been seen to be at least uncertain if not illusory and this is not the first time this has happened. Uncertainty about the capacity of the country's basic law and the officers of state and government it empowers only serves to create uncertainty in Sri Lankan society about the viability of an orderly and secure life on this island. Citizens have to watch their leaders grope around constitutional obstacles and jump constitutional gaps in order to forge ahead with constructive policy and governmental programmes. The incapacity of some officers of state and the lack of clarity about the precise constitutional legitimacy of actions of others only displays the deformities of our polity. These deformities fail to inspire any respect for, or confidence in, our system of law and order. No wonder then that law and order continues to breakdown even as we enjoy a period devoid of war and watch moves for a permanent political settlement. Political leaders on all sides have, time and again, agreed with each other on the unsuitability of the Constitution to meet the needs of Sri Lanka's peoples as they struggle to establish a workable political community in the difficult aftermath of five hundred years of colonial subjugation. The piecemeal amendment of the Constitution, even if it is pushed through amid controversy, may be justified in view of the flaws in our basic law and the urgent need to overcome them. But piecemeal solutions do not inspire confidence in the political system nor in the political leadership. While piecemeal amendments are necessary, the overall debility of the Constitution can only be treated by a drastic revision of it or, the enactment of a new Constitution. Even if the combined national political leaderships are unable to reach a consensus on this, the need to resolve the ethnic conflict by a comprehensive sharing of power among out various communities will inevitably take the country towards fundamental constitutional reform. Our political leaders need to set aside the visions of individual political grandeur that distract from this priority and take positive action in this direction. In solidarity with America Americans throughout the world as well as citizens of all countries will commemorate this week the tragic attacks on New York and Washington that occurred on September 11, 2001. Sri Lankans will especially empathise with the sorrow trauma of Americans as they recall their loss and the horror of the events on that awful day. That is because we, Sri Lankans, have lived through the multiple terrors of violent political repression, insurgency, counter-insurgency, and separatist war. Many other communities, too, throughout the world, such as the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the other cities devastated by massive bombardment, will empathise with the American people at this precious moment of commemoration. Let this moment be one that brings together the peoples of the world in a powerful collective affirmation of the rejection of violent means of deciding human affairs, and a celebration of the supremacy of justice and decency over domination and prejudice. |
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