20th Amendment: Proposals of Muslim civil organisations

Representatives of Muslim civil organizations - the All Ceylon Union of Muslim League Youth Fronts (ACUMLYF), National Shoora Council (NSC), the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL) and the Kandy Forum, have submitted the following after studying the draft Cabinet paper on the proposed 20th Amendment, titled ‘Electoral Reforms Bill’,:

We support the electoral reforms which aims at the elimination of wrong practices and corruption that we have experienced for over two decades.

It is imperative that the Government and political parties recognize the pluralistic nature of our society and the pattern of population distribution of the minority ethnic communities in Sri Lanka. We feel that the Sinhalese must be duly represented and we are concerned about adequate and equitable representation in Parliament for the Tamils, Muslims, including Malays and Burghers. Thus giving meaning to the principles of inclusiveness and equality which President, Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Government are advocating.

We note that the proposed Bill does not address the concerns in relation to adequate and equitable representation of the different ethnic communities scattered all over the country. The fact is that the numerical models and statistical samples being highlighted in this Bill have ignored the socio-cultural and ethnic reality on the ground. Thereby exposing vulnerable minority communities like the Tamils, Muslims, Malays and Burghers to under-representation, electoral inequities and even have no representation at all.

We fear the proposed Bill would result in marginalizing the Muslims who live in the South with the majority Sinhalese people and elsewhere in the country, over a thousand years.

We suggest the following;

*?In general, based on the Census 2012 and the Voters’ Registry 2014 , the representation of the ethno-religious groups, under any reforms, should approximately be as follows;

* We are concerned that, if the proposed mixed-system is implemented in a hurry, it would be an undemocratic practice resulting in serious anomalies. It will lead to a reduction in the representation of the numerically less communities, mainly the Muslims by around 50% or more. An in-depth analysis done by us reveals that under the proposed 20th Amendment, the maximum representation for the Muslims would be only 14 or 15 elected members against the total number of 255, as follows:

– Full Proportional P (165 seats) – 8-9 seats

– Over Hanging (20-22 seats) – Zero possibility

* District PR (25-30 Seats) – 02 or 03 seats
* The best loser/the highest percentage(10-12 seats) – Zero possibility
* National PR (20-22 seats) – 02 seats

Although ‘as the Muslims of Sri Lanka’ we are not willing to be carved out from other communities, but the Bill requires us to suggest a minimum of 9 multi- member constituencies for Muslims be demarcated for Colombo (2), Kandy (2), Kalutara (1), Vanni (1), Galle (1), Kegalle (1), and Batticaloa (1) districts.

And also six electorates be demarcated as single member constituencies with a majority of Muslims namely, Kalmunai, Sammanthurai, and Potuvil in the Ampara district, Muttur in the Trincomalee district, Puttalam in the Puttalam district, and Kalkudhah in the Batticaloa district, to get representation for the Muslims, around 20-25 Members in the Parliament were needed.

* Due representation should be ensured by allocating one seat from the Provincial PR for the provincial minority ethnic groups that have a population of over 70,000, but have failed to secure even a single representation in the province. This would be fair, just and reasonable for the marginalized provincial minorities, namely the Sinhalese in the North and East; the Tamils and the Muslims in the South.

* A special provision should be inserted in the proposed Bill to urge the main national parties to give top priority to the minority group representative from the District PR List, who failed to secure a single representation in the District though they have the qualifying amount of voters.

* In appointing the Delimitation Commission the following should be considered;

a. It should consist of members representing all communities, including the Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims in the main panel as well as in the administrative structure (Secretary / Deputy Secretary / Asst. Secretary/other staff).

b. It should act, based on the 2012 Census and the 2015 Electoral Registers (to be completed by November 2015), which could enable IDPs to sort out issues in voter registration.

* In view of the current controversy relating to the Wilpattu National Park, we suggest that protected areas such as the Strict Nature Reserves, Nature Reserves and the National Parks be excluded from demarcating the proposed ‘Electoral Divisions’ while they remain as part of the administrative districts, to minimize political intervention on irreparable environmental degradation.

* A minimum of one or two seats should be allocated for members of minor ethnic groups who were unable to secure a single representation, at national level. The Malays who are a distinct ethnic group having a language of their own and had been represented in Parliament before should also be accommodated.

* The 20th Amendment should include specific criteria and a general code of ethics for candidates to abide by during the election campaign (e.g. ceiling on expenditure for the campaign, accountability, etc.).