If democracy is to be meaningful and command their respect, it must have a direct impact on their everyday lives. This necessarily calls for the closest possible interaction between government and the community. The mechanisms of government must have effective application at the grassroots level, in order to address issues and to provide relief, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said addressing the Bali Democracy Forum IV in Bali, Indonesia this morning.
It has always been important to us to ensure that the forms and institutions of democracy, far from being an ideal remote from the people, should be part and parcel of their experience, President added.
It is worthy of note that Sri Lanka is the first country in Asia to have accorded women the right to vote, and they secured this right just two years after the en-franchise-ment of women in the United Kingdom.
The diversity of Sri Lanka’s experience of constitutional and electoral systems is probably unique in the annals of political history. Our country has been governed under both the Westminster style Cabinet system and the Executive Presidential system which was introduced into our public law in 1978, he said at the inaugural session of the Forum.
We have had experience of the first past the post electoral system, which continues to operate in many of the countries participating in this Forum, as well as a version of proportional representation which applies in Sri Lanka today. We are now contemplating a hybrid system, combining elements of both these approaches, as the solution best suited to the needs and circumstances of our country. The sum total of these comparative approaches has imparted to us a maturity of outlook and a breadth of vision which have greatly enriched our political culture.
It is a matter of deep pride to us that Sri Lanka is one of the oldest practising democracies not only in the Asian continent but in the world at large. Our people have enjoyed universal adult franchise since 1931, and they have been accustomed, without interruption, to electing and changing governments in an entirely orderly and peaceful manner for eight decades. Even under the LTTE threat we were continuing election, President further said.