Commander-In-Chief Must Give The Right Order For Constructive Transition
Jehan Perera
For any system of government to work it requires an acknowledgement and respect for each other’s role. Trust and goodwill are also important to have between those who hold key decision making positions within the system. When the Northern Provincial Council was established following democratic elections in September, it seemed that a giant step forward had been taken in terms of arriving at a political solution to the ethnic conflict that gave rise to protracted war. But three months after the establishment of the Northern Provincial Council the breakdown of relationships is epitomized by the conflict between its presidentially appointed Governor and democratically elected Chief Minister. There might still be an opportunity to mitigate this conflict before it reaches a chronic stage of no-return between the government and Northern Provincial Council.
Both Governor G A Chandrasiri and Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran are very capable individuals who rose to the highest levels of their respective professions. They are now in positions that were meant to be a check and balance on the power of the provincial councils. Nor surprisingly the appearance and reality today are of a Governor and Chief Minister locked in conflict. The Chief Minister has found himself to be without the powers to discharge his responsibilities by the people who elected him.
Prior to the establishment of the elected Northern Provincial Council, the Governor was necessarily the key figure in the administration of the province. He took all the important decisions, including providing budgetary allocations for the construction of the new provincial council building, and engaging in various acts of charity, including providing funding to individuals who needed medical attention abroad. With this practice in memory, the Governor has taken the position that the Constitution of the country vests the power of staff appointments to the provincial council with him. As a result the Chief Minister cannot even appoint the key staff, such as the Chief Secretary, he would have work for him in the provincial council. The Governor has also refused to give his assent to some of the initiatives proposed by the ministers of the provincial council. In public statements in his defense, he cites the Constitution of the country as giving him the power of decision making.
