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| Sunday, 6 November 2005 |
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The Presidential Election 2005 by Bala Tampoe The first Presidential Election in Sri Lanka was held on October 20, 1982, under the Constitution adopted by the UNP dominated Parliament of Sri Lanka on August 31, 1978. President J. R. Jayewardene utilized the huge majority he had gained in the Parliamentary General Election of 1977 to frame the 1978 Constitution. It contained special provisions for the election of an Executive President, who would be the Head of State, Head of the Executive and of the Government, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The President could appoint and dismiss the Cabinet of Ministers and dissolve Parliament itself. The President could also "declare war and peace", or proclaim a State of Emergency under the Public Security Act, enabling the President to make Emergency Regulations thereunder, amending or suspending the operation of any written law, subject to parliamentary approval within a specified period. The CMU denounced the provisions for the Executive Presidency in the 1978 Constitution as being completely undemocratic and accordingly called for a boycott of the 1982 Presidential Election. We declared that no candidate, if elected President, should be vested with the powers of the Executive Presidency, irrespective of who the candidate might be, and whatever a candidate might promise to do or not do, if elected. Presidential elections were held in 1988, 1994 and 1999. The CMU did not call for the support of any of the presidential candidates in those elections, as they were also held under the same 1978 Constitution Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga promised, prior to her first election as President in November 1994, to abolish the Executive Presidency. She did not do so, however, even after she was re-elected as President in 1999, under the same Constitution. Now, Mahinda Rajapakse, the Prime Minister appointed by President Kumaratunga, has stated in his election Manifesto that he expects, if elected, "to present a Constitution that will propose the abolition of the Executive Presidency and to provide solutions to other issues confronting the country." He says that this will be done "with the consensus of all." That is impossible, since it would require the consent of the UNP and its political allies, including the Ceylon Workers' Congress and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, which are all opposed to the removal of the Executive Presidency. Even Mahinda Rajapakse's most vocal allies, the JVP, have laid it down in their written agreement with him, that it is agreed "to terminate the Executive Presidential system before the end of the tenure of office of the 6th Executive President which is commenced from the year 2005." This really means that they want Mahinda Rajapakse to be the Executive President for the next six years. They obviously expect him to give them Ministerial portfolios and other positions, with their perks and privileges, in that event. Mahinda Rajapakse's manifesto also envisages a 6-year period for his Action Plans to be implemented under him as President. There is, therefore, really only one issue that will be decided by the people who may vote for Mahinda Rajapakse or Ranil Wickremesinghe on 17th November 2005. That is which of the two of them is to be vested with the powers of the Executive Presidency for six years, under the 1978 Constitution. Whether or to what extent the one or the other of them can fulfil the expectations of the political parties and other organizations and groups that support them, and the people who may vote for them, will depend mainly on the economic, political and military realities of the situation in which they could exercise those powers, if elected; and not on their individual beliefs, intentions, or capabilities. The differences between the political parties of the two principal candidates are not on fundamental social or economic issues. Both the UNP and SLFP, and the JVP as well, are committed to the maintenance of the present capitalist economic system in this country, which is subject to the global market economy. The governments that are headed by either of them are, therefore, subject to the conditions that are imposed by global institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for the grant of foreign loans and for foreign investment, on which they depend for their development projects, as well as for the servicing of existing loans and public expenditure. They are also subject to strict limitations in relation to foreign trade by the World Trade Organisation. They differ on such questions as whether or to what extent there is to be further privatisation of public enterprises or sale of national assets, beyond what has already taken place under successive regimes headed by the UNP and the SLFP. Having regard to the policies of the UNP under the leadership of Ranil Wickramasinghe, both as Prime Minister and as Leader of the Opposition, our Union cannot, in any case, expect anything beneficial to the working people from a government headed by him, but rather, the contrary. In the circumstances, our Union does not expect any of the major problems facing our people today to be resolved by whoever may be elected to be the President of Sri Lanka on November 17, 2005. |
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