CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM: A LIBERAL WISH LIST

• by Asanga Welikala 
• - on 03/24/2015 

The Sri Lankan constitutional reform process has been ebbing and flowing, but in recent weeks, the promise of 8th January seemed to be more ebbing than flowing in the usual morass that our political class is uniquely capable of producing. But if some reports are to be believed, then it seems as if the ‘Troika’ of President Sirisena, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, and former President Kumaratunga, are rallying to save the reform mandate from dying an inglorious death. One can only hope that bringing the SLFP into government serves the dual purposes of ensuring the success of the reforms and marginalising the forces of chauvinism and authoritarianism. If the political centre, which represents the vast majority of Sri Lankan voters, can be so reconstituted that the UNP and SLFP can together deliver democracy reforms, then it bodes exceedingly well for the future of this country, and for the co-operation that must follow in ensuring devolution reforms in the future. Everyone concerned must remember that if they succeed in these collective efforts, they will be making history. If not, and if the collaboration merely provides a fig leaf for the continuation of the squalid politics as usual, the judgement of history will be commensurately harsh.
Constitutional Reform a Liberal Wish List by Thavam Ratna