18th Amendment clarifies position:

Incumbent President has legal right to contest a third term - Gomin Dayasiri

By Manjula Fernando

Senior Lawyer and political analyst Gomin Dayasiri in an interview with the Sunday Observer said those who seek to abolish the executive presidency were pseudo patriots who wish to weaken the Government and allow anti Sri Lanka forces to take the upper hand.

Gomin Dayasiri

“The importance of this provision is not visible at present where a single party is ruling with strength, but in the future the situation could be different with a weak government in office,” he said.

Dayasiri said that there were indeed features to be axed, such as the immunity given to Presidents of legal action, he opined that with two thirds of the war against terrorism being won, the country needed a strong office of presidency to sustain peace, achieve total stability and ensure economic revival.He said he was talking of the executive office holder without any trapping of a political colouration favouring any party.

Excerpts of the interview .

The Executive Presidency gave stability to a country that was under the threat of terrorism. We overcame terrorism primarily because executive power was in the hand of an authority which could take decisions and implement them without being subject to legislative fetters and obstructions.

Strength

We won the war because of the office of Presidency which provided a strong executive; this is important specially in a country where a multi-party system is in existence and several parties are represented in parliament, a single party may not have a majority and would need to form a coalition The present powers enjoyed by the President will be able to overcome such a situation where governments will not collapse as in Italy. In Sri Lanka the holder of the office of Presidency derives power directly from the people and he could implement decisions overcoming obstacles laid by the legislature in a multi-party system and provide stability to the country. The importance of this provision is not visible at present where a single party is ruling with strength.

In the future when the situation could be different with a weak government in office where the anti Lankan forces will gang up to weaken the central government dancing to the tune of diaspora and western powers and NGOs.

The argument put forward by former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva that the incumbent President cannot contest a third term is also not valid. There are huge drawbacks in the arguments put forward by him. The law he is talking about is now dead following the enactment of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.

Under the 18th Amendment, the incumbent President has the legal right to contest a third term.

The President was able to use emergency regulations during the battle against terrorism to overcome this peril as these powers were in his immediate grasp and he could exercise them instantly.

It is the TNA that will benefit mostly in dismantling the Executive Presidency and their prayer would be to have a weak UNP government which they could manoeuvre and manipulate to reach their objectives.

The best example of this is when the minority UNP held office with a Prime Minister and ruling UPFA had Chandrika Kumaratunga as the President of the country. The two parties were able to hold power and govern the country though the government did not have the majority. It is those who want to destabilise the country who wish to see the strength of the President reduced. The purpose is to weaken the government.

Dream

However, there are certain unnecessary features that should be eliminated such as the immunity given to Presidents regarding legal action. Presidents also should be treated as an equal among un-equals. Therefore, it is the powers of the Presidency that should be abridged but not the executive office of the presidency, which should be further strengthened because in a country like Sri Lanka where absolute majority may not be possible in parliament, there must be some authority to govern the country giving it stability and not be under obligation to anti Lankan forces.

The dream of the Anti-Sri Lankan forces is to weaken the central government and extract the maximum out of its weakness and be dependent on their people for the governments existence and continuity.

It is important, that the fruits of the war and the current state of peace be maintained because presently the diaspora, the western powers, human rights activists and NGOs are trying to destabilise the country and such Anti Lankan forces can only be defeated by a strong President especially if the government is not stable.

The opposition is harping for the abolition of executive presidency. They are making a big mistake in trying to propel this issue because the average voter does not understand why the Presidency should be abolished after the said office helped immensely in defeating terrorism. Therefore, the Opposition is merely barking to the tune of the NGOs and some of those in civil society who are not in alignment with the thinking of the people.

Issues

This is an issue a majority of Sri Lankan voters don't even understand and it is by propelling such academic issues that the opposition is unable to reach the people. If opposition proposes to do well at the forthcoming elections they should shift to issues that touch the common man.

This is an issue that will only attract a few middle class intelligentsia of Colombo and the suburbs of some of the major cities of Sri Lanka. It’s an issue had been played over and again at every election without success. It is more profitable for the opposition to shift to issues that are attractive to the public rather than trying to whip a dead horse into action, if they desire to succeed.

The war has been won but that is only three quarters of the battle completed. Still there are elements with separatist tendencies. To overcome that and bring Sri Lanka to an economically sound position and bind the nation as one family a strong Presidency is essential.

The office holder can come from any political party not necessarily the UPFA.I am talking of the executive office holder without any trapping of a political colouration favouring any party. It has always the plea of every opposition party of vivid colours whilst in the opposition.

But in Sri Lanka, President's are often surrounded by a few people who are sycophants. They are not interested in placing the correct picture before the President but instead tell sunshine stories and thereby mislead the President.

This will one day have repercussions and lead to a decline in the president's popularity in view of the wrong advice, especially on the economy.

The genuine nationalist forces understand the value of the Presidency, which is essential for at least a few years more until total stability is reached. But the pseudo nationalist forces are puppets manipulated by those who act against the interests of Sri Lanka and want the Presidency abolished.

I don't want to name any person or body, but people are smart and are able to distinguish between true patriotic national forces and those who try to portray as nationalistic forces.