Dictatorship Of A Two-Thirds Majority Or Abuse Of Power By Executive President?
The question to be asked is not: Whom are you voting for? Very few will know whom they are voting for because the chances of them knowing anyone in any of the lists of the parties’ contesting the district are very remote. You will probably vote for a party which you dislike the least. The tougher question will be: What are you voting for? A vast majority of voters simply don’t know what they want. They will probably vote for a party but once again will have no choice because political parties are pledging many things they have pledged before but were not implemented and do not have the foggiest idea of how to implement them. Our suggestion to voters is to ask themselves: Why, on earth should we vote?
The questions suggested below are for voters who still have retained their senses and have not yet descended to the political stupor this nation is in.
Change Executive Presidency by elections?
Newspapers, TV and radio are now making out that change in the powers of the Executive President is the most important issue facing the nation. Certainly the abuse of power by the Executive President is all important. But could a parliamentary election bring about the desired changes?
This subject of the abuse of power by the Executive President first surfaced when Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayake and many leading UNPers rose up against what they called the ‘One Man Show’ of President Ranasinghe Premadasa. Soon those against the Executive Presidency were thrown out of the party by the all powerful One Man and later Velupillai Pirapaharan killed most of the UNP renegades and finally the great big One Man himself. Chandrika Kumaratunga too vowed to do away with the One Man Show but soon it became a One Woman Show. She was called ‘Premadasa in a saree.’
After that Mangala Samaraweera plotted and planned with the aspiring successor to the ‘One Woman Leader’, combined with the JVP rabble to throw out the One Woman and the Executive Presidency itself . But when Rajapaksa became the One Man it changed into a ‘One Man’s Family Show’ with powers of the executive presidency intact. This show can go on with the backing of the powers of the executive presidency.
Two- thirds majority, the cure?
Now President Rajapaksa does not evince much interest about abolishing the executive powers of the presidency but his supporters keep drumming up the slogan: We desperately need a two- thirds majority to exorcise the executive presidency yakka. This country, however, has experienced the malefic influence of even worse yakkas than the executive presidency yakka.
History
In 1970 Sirima Bandaranaike and her red comrades swept to power with a two thirds majority and soon it was transformed into a ‘dictatorship of a two third majority’. This Yakka steam rolled the entire country flat, destroying everything that was standing before it except for their families. J.R. Jayewardene did even worse creating a five-sixths majority Yakka and he together with his successor held the country in chains for 18 years with the use of his creation — the powers of the executive presidency.
JR knew human nature very well. ‘Absolute power not only corrupts absolutely’ as the dictum goes, but absolute power is absolutely delightful and cannot be absolutely given up.
National stupor
With less than a month to go, the people in a national stupor are being led by the nose about these presidential powers. They do realise that to abolish the powers of the executive presidency, a party needs a two thirds majority in parliament. But do not realise that a party with a two-thirds majority would be as powerful as an executive president and if the president is of the party with a two thirds majority, a Frankenstein Monster, experienced never before would be created?
J.R. Jayewardene’s constitution with proportional representation and powers of the Executive President was precisely intended to prevent the abuse of power by the dictatorship of the two thirds majority in parliament although it resulted in this hideous monster.
Dictatorship of the two-thirds
Remember the havoc unleashed by the dictatorship of the two- thirds majority? The first thing was to destroy the constitution that existed, conferring absolute power to the two thirds majority in parliament. From then on it steam rolled over everything standing in the name of the people. The independent public service, the independent judiciary, well established educational system, destruction of the private sector, devastation of the plantations and much more continued as the people simply looked on.
Ask the senile JVPers how their first revolution was ‘democratically’ suppressed. Ask landowners how their vast acres of land were taken over overnight in the name of the poor but the poor got not an inch of any land.
Houses were taken over but at least Pieter Keuneman the Communist, gave ownership to tenants. This was all done under a parliamentary democracy where one party had a two third majority. Now to escape from the exercise of the arbitrary powers of the Executive Presidency, is the election of a two-third parliamentary majority, the solution?
It will be apparent even to a student at O-Levels that the election of a party with a two third majority is not the solution. Firstly even if all the dreams of the Rajapaksas and their supporters come true, it is highly unlikely that two-thirds majority can be acquired in the next parliament. What can be done to exorcise the executive presidential yakka, is with consensual agreement of all parties, to draw up a constitution that would be acceptable to two-thirds the membership in parliament.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa knows all about this and even tried it out. He proposed reaching a consensus with the UNP and while the process was on, bought over 18 UNPers with the offer of ministerial portfolios and attendant luxury and comfort. With that one move, whatever that remained of the democratic system, crumbled. We do not blame President Rajapaksa alone for that. The renegade UNPers too could have been excused on the grounds that they found the politics of the UNP at that time unacceptable to them. Why they cannot be pardoned is that they accepted ministerial portfolios through sheer greed for power and comfort and are continuing to enjoy vulgar luxuries of ministerial privileges while being elected by people who were totally opposed to the government they joined.
Quality matters
If such is the quality of people who present themselves to be elected to our supreme legislature there is no hope for democracy or the country. The same sordid history could be repeated and these candidates can quite nonchalantly — as they are doing now — present themselves to be elected.
The farcical nature of this impending election is best illustrated by the fact that none of the major parties are presenting their proposals on how the Tamil problem could be resolved — a question on which the nation warred for about 30 years.
All these pathetic developments in our political system goes on to illustrate no constitution however good it may be will be able to withstand the vile nature of our politicians.
The Lankan people have never agreed on anything it seems. Offering in kind of solution to the Tamil problem will result in a loss. Best hope is for the politicians to fight about something else and hopefully solve it after being elected.
Many Sinhalese will say “what problem. LTTE is dead. No need to give Tamils anything. They should learn to live in Sri Lanka.” We will have to wait and see what happens next.
Elections are always interesting in Lanka although outcomes are predictable.
The President has quite a lot of power. The Opposition is practically nobody, just a waste of money for their salaries.
2/3rds majority is a must.
MR won the war, haven’t he? You don’t worry about your child coming home after school, don’t you?
MR won the war, so he is an achiever. Ranil has lost umpteen amount of elections, so he can’t achieve anything, right?
JVP ‘s ONLY vocation is striking and say bangawewa, right?
TNA is trying to be another Prabakaran, right?
So, do we REALLY need the UNP, TNA and JVP, also all other ethnic parties?
Do we really need all these useless ‘opposition” parties? Can any “opposition” MP build a bokkuwa in your village? So, why should we go on paying people to not to do anything?
very foolish comment. mr. ariya go and study about politics and how to live in sri lanka !!!!!
m.badur, I agree with you too. To accept a dictatorship is utter nonsense. Brainless slave.
You sound like a piece of poison. This must be the mentality of MR too, just as it has been so with SB,JRJ, RP and CBK, particularly Premadasa. For a healthy democracy to survive it is imperative that there is an active, intelligent opposition. With such competition, the govt. cannot afford to sit back and be complacent. It strives to produce the goods and fulfill the election promises. Because any let up will be picked up by the opposition and would be used as an uncompromising vote winning tool. So in a nutshell, 2/3, 5/6 majorities by even the best of parties can be dangerous as ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’. A better option would be for the governing party to convince and seek cooperation from other parties and get the required 2/3, for changes in law that genuinely benefits the people.(A good opposition will support such as not to do so will be to their detriment) A govt. without a large majority as rule will always be on scrutiny – thus will work for the people. A vast majority on the other hand for a nepotistic, autocratic leader will be like a monkey with a razor blade (or a can of petrol).
This Ariya is a politically ignorant fellow
Yes you are a politically enlightened fellow living overseas.
Good idea, So simply the present government can be truthful, and declare that they must be allowed to be in power for life as no one else in Sri Lanka are worthy of coming to power in the future. they are the only worthful people who must get paid for all the good they had done and are doing on behalf of us, forgetting the fact that its their bounden duty that they did and its not anything unusual the president had achieved. So why do these good doers are wasting so much money on desecrating every possible walls with their mug shots and keep lying about what they are going to do and even to the extent of curtailing the powers of their saviour after obtaing 2/3rd of the seats. So do we REALLY deed all these fuss. For What??????????
you are real yatath wesiya(hmaharajage)
A two thirds majority is required to reform this Costitution which is the cause of most of our problems including tamil disenchantment. Though this constitution has survived the test of time it has placed Sri Lanka in a ‘Straight Jacket’ with little room to manoeuvre . In a rapidly changing World we cannot afford to be in Constitutional Chains on top of Colonial Shackles still to be broken and continue with Hung Parliaments and Jumbo Cabinets. The Carnival is over lets now Build our Nation.
No need of a two thirds Majority if the opposition and government can arrive at a consensus. Mr. Weerakoons arguments against a two thirds majority are very valid. It is unfortunate that many people have been brainwashed by government propaganda. MR purposely destroyed the opportunity of working with the UNP by wooing their Parliamentarians with power & perks merely to concentrate power within his family. UNP ERs are fools not unite under the only capable leader they have at this time in spite of his many short comings.
Everyone knows that Tamil problem is no longer an issue in Sri Lanka. Some people shout about an imaginary Tamil political problem which even Tamils are not interested. Over 70% of the Tamils didn’t vote in the last election and even if 100% Tamils vote in the Parliamentary election, they will get only about 30 seats or less in a 225 seat parliament. So their vote is not needed y the majority people. The Tamils can do whatever they like (vote or not vote), it is not going to change anything. Strange enough, Tamils know this and only their their politicians (with the encouragement from Indians and Diaspora Tamils) make a big fuss about the election.
The problem that Singhalese have is that the war is now over. Instead of developing the country and improve the lives of the people, most politicians (and all the Tamil politicians) are talking about some political solution. Singhalese are not in a mood to give anything to Tamils and Tamils do not deserve that either. Tamils know that too (ie:they will not get anything). Only Indians who use the magcal agreement by both communities to create some trouble In Sri Lanka. This way they think that they could exercise some influence in Sri Lanka, at a time when China is rapidly becoming the friend of both Singhalese and Tamils.
It is right to say that there is no ethnic problem in Sri Lanka and no solution needed for that. But there is econimic problem which needs to be resolved.
Our democracy is strong enough to tackle any dictatorship. We lived with LTTE dictatorship for 30 years and got rid of it once and for all. It is not difficult to tackle any other dictatorship like LTTE’s. So stop spreading fears into peoples’ mind and help the country to tackle the economy and the huge national debt.
Try to covince those wealthy Tamil dispora to contribute towards the recovery and the repayment of loans. After all, it was them who mainly caused this in the first place.
Well, keep in mind it took 5000-8000 Tamils under LTTE to fight so long. The war was won because TMVP was on MR side. They still want power and peace not necessarily Eelam. TMVP wants 13+. The Tamil speaking peoples in general and Tamil people in particular were never happy with the arrangement of the country.
The two-thirds majority was put in the first place when British left because Tamils Indigineous and Estate made up a quarter of the population. Muslims made up 8%. Together the three groups made up one-third of the population.
I doubt the Tamil Diaspora will give any money to anything other than Eelam. For Eelam they will give a lot but for other things I doubt it. I think they are going to need that money to take on Rajapksa brothers and SF for war crimes. They might be willing to settle for a political solution of internal self government although I doubt that.
All countries are telling Lanka to figure something out. Most Tamils on the island will accept things for now at least if there is enough powers devolved.
The number of Tamils in Lanka is much lower now because of immigration from Lanka. There are more than a million people outside of Lanka. They did not vote nor could they. So voter turnout is not reflective of things.
It’s up to King Mahinda to unite his Kingdom.
Estate Tamils were stateless thanks to British way of doing things. So they did not figure in the two third majority calculations at the time British left.
“Sinhala” dominated SL Government together with India gave Estate Tamils a choice of nationality and due status. But that happened two decades later.
TVMP, you say?
What can TVMP do without the help of SLFP?
Tamil Disapora? They are traitors of Sri Lanka. I won’t trust any former Sri Lankan Tamil abroad. All they do is scheming against Sri Lanka.
Kalag: So according to you there is no Tamil problem then why
the hell Prabakaran shed so much of blood & life,
Why M R has created a constitution with 13+ to be presented to
next parliament shown only to Nirupama Rao.
Where JHU will stand at that time i dont know.
There is no point in saying changing the presidency with out saying what exactly is the change!!
When Chandrika threw out the UNP govt. the first thing say wanted to do was to see if the constitution can be changed so that she could go for an extra term.
My suspicion is the the main change MR may want to do is the same… to try to remain in power for many terms by changing the constitution !!
Let the country suffer from the the Jarapaksa, Pagapaska and the Yakapaksa regime !!
Now the Tamils’ voice might have been muted in lanka, but not in the other parts of the world.
I guess the most of the Sinhalese don’t care as long as Rajapakse remains in power as their all powerful king, and the willing to be treated like sheep.
Well he is an amazing leader much like George Bush, a person of the common people with all the frailties that they possess.
Amazing or not he knows the intricacies of government to remain in power even after a lost election.
MR was behind the real coup.
Amazing?!? You mean Cunning!
Leader?!? You mean a PidePiper!
Mahinda Rajapaksa only happens to be a very lucky beneficiary of a well prepared army (as US Amb. Jeffrey Lunstad confimed) capable of defeating the ferocious Tigers. There were other issues that came in his luck’s ay such as the comprehensive international ban on the Tigers (with significant US prodding as was with Canada and the EU) and as Jane has mentioned elsewhere, the TMVP factor. He also benefitted from a weak UN Secretary General in Ban Ki Moon. All these worked in unison to destroy the Tigers, though the Sinhalese masses believe it was the sole doing of MR. The Americans and the West have always known that the nationalist MR will never give a fair deal to the Tamils and this the reason for their tacit support for the Tigers. Now that the Tigers have been destroyed and MR already demonstrated his unwillingness to extend a just solution, the Americans and the West have been proven right about heir suspicion. Sure, while there is no longer exists the terrible insecurity of random death, the deeper cause – the absence of a just solution – only has got worsened. If MR were to, as Jane says is to become a truly “Amazing Leader” then he must change gears to become magnanimous, courageous, and go against the grain to bring about a principle-based socio-politcal solution. He is simply not made of such statesmanship-like stuff. If this was the case, he would have already pardoned Fonseka. The next 5 years will be turbulent with the nation moving further and further away from democratic ideals and the benefits of US-West free markets capitalism. Expect tough economic times ahead with further tightenting of belts but more dangerously loss of fundamental freedoms.
SMELL OF MYANMAR-Imagine those goons in Myanmar have indicted that they would be haing elections at the end of the year-YOU KNOW what is the first condition- The Opposition-democratice Leader, who is awomen is not alloed to contest-Our goyyias are following that path.
What two-thirds majoritity? Nothing would help SL now. So called our hero Sarath Fonseg in jail, US satellite’s war evidences and UN push our president MR into jail, world stops listing to our lies and boycotts our products, popping up more china-towns everywhere, soon two-thirds of our people will be speaking chines and two-thirds Indians will be selling bananas on our streets….god bless us….
And so is the Sinhala Nation is lost. Two nation in one country would have been a better solution. There is still enough time to save the country from chineese and indian invaders.
To bring about national cohesion: the call for a two thirds majority for UFPA is not relevant if the two major parties in the Parliament resolve to work together.
To some people including the International Community, the “devolution of power” to the North and East is a key issue. What does this mean and how do we go about achieving this aim?
The Cease Fire Agreement gave the LTTE virtual self government. During CFA the LTTE, assisted by Tamil Diaspora and IC connivance, armed itself to the teeth and provoked a war. As a result of unimaginable death and destruction that followed, the majority Sinhala community is now saying never again would we “devolve power”!!.
The “devolution of power”, without risking national disintegration, needs a framework. Here are my suggestions:
• Make a treas0nable offence the calling for or working towards separatism;
• As long as threats to the unitary nature of the State of Sri Lanka exist, mandate and empower the Security Forces to maintain regional presences to thwart treas0nable activity; and
• Assure the fundamental right of Sri Lankans to live and/or work any where in the nation.
Having gained the confidence of the majority of people:
• Execute appropriate constitutional provisions for devolving power in good faith.
Without a framework such as that above, and given the disastrous outcome of the CFA, the status quo will prevail. Sad to say so, but this unsatisfactory status quo suits many merchants of conflict – including some sections of the IC.
Whichever way we look at these issues, at stake is the national cohesion and socio- economic future of Sri Lanka. So, let’s tread carefully and progress with caution.
Get real! Almost all politicians of the two major parties as well as many in the minority parties are all 3rd rate politicians – driven by their petite personal egos and personal agendas and hardly any one of them is a man or a woman driven by ideals and principles. Even the top of the top, the so called ‘”educated” ones such as GL Peiris, Milinda Moragoda, Mahinda Samarasinghe, etc. are unprincipled nincampoops who sway with the winds to serve their personal agendas always ready to mortgage their beliefs for personal advantage. The only hope for Sri Lanka is the emergence of a brand new political culture based on secular Western democratic values by a fresh generation of principled leaders – who will hopefully replace this entire corrupt and unprincipled lot.
Ya! I studied western democratic values in operation.
May be we should handover Sri lanka to Bush-Cheney combo. Then they can run the country with the help of Blackwater thugs, Enron and Lehman Bros crooks. Together they can hand over every contract to Halliburton.
I am afraid Mr American, there is no point in looking for white knights. As Churchill once said, “democracy is rotten, but it is much better than all other forms of government”. That excatly is the reality.
So where is the Democracy now?
I am at a loss to understand what the foolish voters of SL will do at the General election, if they give 2/3 majority to MR, just forget Democracy till the last Rajapakse is alive. Fools! MR is cunning jackal, if he gets 2/3 majority he will change the constitution for him to be a lifetime president followed by his brothers, sons & daughters, so please don’t get caught for their brainwash. Do u think MR is a patriot sacrificing his life for our country, he is more devoted to build a family Dictatorship, he does’nt care two hoots for you & me, in a few years time the whole of Cbo. will be owned by the Rajapakse family, the president, PM , Ministers & deputy Ministers, all will be from the Rajapakse family & it will go on for many years to come, no Democracy, it will be buried for good, only Dictatorship will prevail, the poor will be poorer, the rich will be richer, this is my prediction for 2010 & beyond.
“THUNENN DEKA ATA, HAMA NATHTHANG EKATH BIMA”
THUNAMA AVASYHA. DEKENG BAHA KELLINDE.
There are valid arguments for and against a two thirds majority. It is all a question of trust. Can the government trust the opposition to support them on ‘unpopular’ hard policies?. What is the past experience?. Take the ethnic issue. Where ever was a common approach. A good example is the Constitutional Reform Bill of 1976. No doubt there were obnoxious provisions smuggled by the then President to continue her dominance. The opposition could have moved for a conditional agreement. But they played politics. What is the assurance that the same behavior will not be repeated.
It is all a question of trust. There is little trust between communities and less trust among political parties.
One solution is for a third force- consisting of religious leaders, professionals and society to make the political parties to agree on a few core issues that they will work together to implement who ever is in power. It is important that the core issues must include the more contentious issues on which political parities play games with.
Even if he gets 2/3 majority, MR will not allow the Presidential Immunity to be removed for the period he was/plans to be, in power. He knows what happened to Chandrika B in the Waters Edge case.