People, Politics and the Constitution: Reading ‘The Sri Lankan Republic at 40′ (edited by Asanga Welikala)
Photo courtesy Vikalpa, taken at the launch of the book in Colombo.
Kalana Senaratne-11 May, 2013
Reading a tome on constitutional history, theory and practice – like Asanga Welikala’s edited collection titled The Sri Lankan Republic at 40 – can be a daunting task. For a start, such books have too much to say about constitutions. The more you read about constitutional documents, the more they begin to appear God-like. For a constitutional-skeptic, this is a horrible prospect. Also, the broader discipline of constitutional law often comes across as an esoteric one. In examining the Table of Contents, one senses that much of what is contained in Asanga’s collection (which runs into two large volumes) is for the specialist. With 1166 pages divided into four parts – namely ‘constitutional history’, ‘constitutional theory’, ‘constitutional practice’ and ‘interviews and recollections’ – one feels (and the feeling comes slowly) that it might just not get read during this life-time.
Therefore, one is tempted to skip the academic and expert-analysis, and get to the ‘real’ and ‘interesting’ stuff: interviews and recollections, words from the heart (as they say). But on further inspection, skipping becomes difficult, unnecessary: the chapters on history and theory appear like reminiscences and recollections of the respective authors, while those who were interviewed seem to have engaged in historical and theoretical exegesis. Thankfully, the collection becomes interesting; and reading it, not too bad for your health after all.
So, the purpose here is rather simple. In undertaking a brief reading of this impressive collection of essays, my attempt will be to examine some common themes it captures, some of the problems concerning Sri Lanka’s republican constitutions and constitution-making projects, its institutions and political culture, and the different perspectives offered about these matters. And also, it is to examine whether there are any lessons to be learned from this experience. My focus is selective, and the examination of the many chapters is brief, and follows no clear structure or pattern.
A Republic and its Doomed Project(s) of Constitution Making
