Fast Descent Into A Constitutional Dictatorship?
Eran Wickramaratne MP
Sri Lanka is fast descending into a Constitutional Dictatorship. In a kingdom the powers of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary were exercised by the king. The king was sovereign. In a democracy the people are sovereign and their sovereignty is given expression through the executive, legislative and the judicial branches of Government. The healthiest democracy is where the different arms of government are independent of one another, and they exercise their powers in a manner that does not impinge on the other. A system of checks and balances should also be in place, so that one organ of power could arbitrate conflicts between the other two organs. If there was to be a conflict between the Executive and the Judiciary, the Legislature would be the arbitrator.
We are now facing a situation where Members of Parliament have brought an impeachment motion against the Chief Justice, and where they have to decide on the removal of the Chief Justice. In the United States of America there is a clear separation of powers between the Legislators on Capitol Hill and the President and his Cabinet. The President picks his Cabinet from outside the House of Representatives and the Senate. If a member of any of the Houses is picked to be in the Cabinet, like was the case with Senator Hilary Clinton, she resigned her legislative position to become a part of the Executive maintaining strict separation between the Executive and the Legislature. In Sri Lanka the Cabinet of Ministers is picked from elected members of Parliament diluting the separation between the Executive and the Legislature. The dilution was limited to the Cabinet of Ministers who share in executive power. The administration of President Rajapaksa has reduced the independence of the Legislature drastically by appointing multiple scores as Senior Ministers, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Monitoring Ministers. The independence of the Legislature from the Executive has irretrievably suffered by turning most legislators into mini-executives. Government MP s have little choice but to bow down to the whims and fancies of the President when the structure of government has been altered in this manner.
It is in this situation that the Chief Justice will be subject to a hearing by the Parliamentary Select Committeeand a subsequent vote by the Members of Parliament. One has to assume that the Bench in a trial is unbiased and has no material interest in the case at hand. It must be pointed out that some of the MPs who have signed the Resolution have cases pending against them in the Supreme Court, and crossed over to the government from the Opposition benches. In a jury system of trial a Juror picked to hear the case will be vetted for independence. If the Juror is discovered to have any material interests or conflict on his selection he would step down as a Juror.
Eran Wickramaratne MP
We are now facing a situation where Members of Parliament have brought an impeachment motion against the Chief Justice, and where they have to decide on the removal of the Chief Justice. In the United States of America there is a clear separation of powers between the Legislators on Capitol Hill and the President and his Cabinet. The President picks his Cabinet from outside the House of Representatives and the Senate. If a member of any of the Houses is picked to be in the Cabinet, like was the case with Senator Hilary Clinton, she resigned her legislative position to become a part of the Executive maintaining strict separation between the Executive and the Legislature. In Sri Lanka the Cabinet of Ministers is picked from elected members of Parliament diluting the separation between the Executive and the Legislature. The dilution was limited to the Cabinet of Ministers who share in executive power. The administration of President Rajapaksa has reduced the independence of the Legislature drastically by appointing multiple scores as Senior Ministers, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Monitoring Ministers. The independence of the Legislature from the Executive has irretrievably suffered by turning most legislators into mini-executives. Government MP s have little choice but to bow down to the whims and fancies of the President when the structure of government has been altered in this manner.
It is in this situation that the Chief Justice will be subject to a hearing by the Parliamentary Select Committeeand a subsequent vote by the Members of Parliament. One has to assume that the Bench in a trial is unbiased and has no material interest in the case at hand. It must be pointed out that some of the MPs who have signed the Resolution have cases pending against them in the Supreme Court, and crossed over to the government from the Opposition benches. In a jury system of trial a Juror picked to hear the case will be vetted for independence. If the Juror is discovered to have any material interests or conflict on his selection he would step down as a Juror.
