Sri Lanka’s Dilemma
By Siri Gamage -October 19, 2014
Dr. Siri Gamage
Imbalance of Power between the Executive and the Legislature, Constitutional Dilemmas and the Need for a Community-Oriented Model
For a society to function smoothly, there has to be a commonly agreed framework of governance. This framework defines and specifies the way those who are elected to govern are to be elected, the powers they ought to have, in which circumstances and for what purposes, ability to delegate, responsibilities of various sections such as the executive and legislative branches, and more importantly the limitations. Usually the constitution of a country provides the principal blueprint of such a framework supplemented by various legislation approved by the legislature. When disputes arise about the way a given power is exercised by a given person or a body pertaining to the government, there ought to be judicial and para judicial mechanisms for resolving them. For this function to operate smoothly, the independence of such judicial and para judicial bodies, e.g. Human rights commission, labour tribunal, has to be guaranteed. All this can ensure the functioning of a society where reason, sense of fairness and justice, rule of law, transparency and accountability etc. work as governing principles rather than the application of sheer force of power itself. A society with such characteristics and a framework of governance is one that will install a high degree of confidence among the country’s population, mostly the literate sections, as well as international observers.
However, constitutional and political developments since the late 70s have taken the country as well as the governance framework on a slippery slope culminating in a situation where the rule of law, reason, justice and fair play, as well as transparency and accountability seem to have been thrown into the dustbin of history by large measure. Instead, a governance framework where one individual or his/her office is able to command a very high degree of power and resources as well as manipulate the functioning of the legislature through the party system and coalition politics plus the practice of luring opposition politicians to his/her side with impressive inducements such as ministerial posts seem to have emerged and expanded in its grasp. Thus we can see today the largest cabinet in the world. The neoliberal, free market economic system that was introduced by the UNP government in 1977 has assisted this change in the governance practices. The expansion of this system by all parties, without examining its consequences on society, culture, and the governance framework for so long has ensured various social ills as well as the loss of community rights also, e.g. encroachment of the coastline by privately owned tourism companies and other entities, large scale appropriation of state land by private sector companies by way of joint ventures with foreign entities. Read More
