Unprecedented victory for constitutional amendments

By Jaliya WIJEYEKOON

Sri Lanka became a colony of the British Empire in 1815 and was ruled by the colonial masters for over 13 decades. Independence was granted to us in 1948 due to the constant pressure mounted by local politicians for autonomy, against the Empire.

At the beginning, British governed our country based on the policies adopted by them for their colonies. A few years into the British rule, the then Governor of Ceylon Sir Robert Brownrigg wanted to streamline internal administration and introduced the Colbrooke Cameron Reforms in 1828 by which many significant changes were put in place in the administrative structure of the government. At the beginning, all powers were vested with the Governor, who was the sole authority representing the King of England.

With the introduction of the Colbrooke Cameron recommendations, the Executive, Judicial and Legislative powers were divided and the Supreme Court was set up under a Charter of Justice for the smooth functioning of justice and fair play.

The British governed our country for almost a century under the Colbrooke Cameron reforms with minor adjustments on certain issues.

However, patriotic Sinhalese politicians of the day were not happy with total British administration and wanted a certain degree of representation by the Lankans in the administration.In April 1927 a committee was appointed by the British Monarch to draft a new constitution, which was headed by Lord Donoughmore.

The Donoughmore Reforms were a step forward in the local administration for the countrymen, with the franchise being granted to men and women over 21 years of age.With the passage of time, our leaders of the day became unhappy with the performances of the British rulers and agitated against them for self autonomy.

The Soulbury Constitution which was introduced in 1946 vested ample administrative powers with the countrymen and, according to political analysts, is the best that Sri Lanka had.

After attaining independence in 1948, six of our National leaders of yesteryears governed this country under the Soulbury Constitution.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike who won the 1970 election with a two thirds majority, introduced the first Republican Constitution through which a number of changes took place.

The official name of our country was changed to Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The Parliament became the National State Assembly.

The Governor General, who was appointed by the Queen of England on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, was replaced by the ceremonial Presidency and the right to appeal to the Privy Council on judicial matters was done away with.

When J.R. Jayewardene came to power with a resounding five sixth majority at the 1977 general election, he introduced his brainchild, the new Constitution which is still in existence amidst various different opinions, views, allegations and arguments.

This Constitution has been subjected to a large number of amendments to suit the political atmosphere prevailing in the country and to avoid or suppress vital national issues.

President J.R. Jayewardene could easily garner the two thirds majority to pass all his 16 Amendments to the Constitution since he had prolonged the lifespan of parliament with the infamous referendum.

However, there were severe objections and differences of opinion from his Opposition members and there were chaotic situations in the country against some of those amendments, but JRJ implemented all his infamous amendments with the majority support of the party members who were virtual slaves under his presidency. The only Cabinet member who opposed JR's views was Minister Gamini Jayasooriya who honourably resigned from his portfolio and bade goodbye to politics on principles.

18th Amendment

The 18th Amendment introduced by the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government early this week was lethargically opposed by most UNP members while it was supported by a few UNP members along with all Alliance members and the Muslim Congress.

When we scrutinise the constitutional history in Sri Lanka, it is quite evident that this is the first ever occasion that a vital Constitutional Bill has been passed in Parliament with a majority of 144 votes from the entire membership of 225 heads. This could be considered as the greatest political achievement of the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government which is fully geared to win the economic war in the near future.