Constitutional Configurations Lanka Should Avoid: The Democracy Deficit In The US
By Kumar David -October 20, 2013 |
Prof Kumar David
The United States prides itself as the longest continuous constitutional democracy though the Brits, home of the mother of parliaments, may demur. The written document apart, US pride must be tempered by the unfortunate truth that enforcement of the right to vote by blacks became reality only after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Squabbling with the Brits aside, the American Constitution enshrines the separation of powers, Presidential term limits, checks and balances, and most important, accountability and answerability to the people. A hyperactive media both helps and confounds the processes of American democracy.
Comparatively, it’s bloody chaos in Lanka. The awful JR-Constitution must to be discarded and the depraved Executive Presidency (EP) abolished. EP would be long gone but for Mahinda Rajapakse’s greed for power and the droppings there from that his siblings gorge on. Public distaste is growing and Rajapakse covetousness and public anger will collide. Then it is EP that will be flushed down the WC. Sobitha and the UNP have proposed drafts – fairly good and with considerable overlap – Chandrika is said to have called on Sobitha Thero; presidency and constitution surely were on the agenda, I doubt she was seeking guidance on chastity, abstinence and the Dhamma. Since we have to discard our constitution, deadlock in the US that has shut the government down, is worth exploring. (Currently there are 9 presidencies with over 20 years grip on power in Africa, another 6 of over 10 years duration; these ogres no doubt are Rajapakses exemplars).
The Mad-Hatter’s Tea Party
Neither the Constitution nor the doctrine of separation of powers is to blame if Mad-Hatters take over Congress and prance in bibs spilling scalding hot folly all over. The blame falls on voters in 50 US congressional districts who chose these tenderfoots, now holding the Republican Party and House Speaker John Boehner hostage. The 2012 elections did a funny thing; America re-elected a black president of liberal bent, but in fear it had gone too far (racism is not far below the surface in some Americans and liberalism is only a shade less awful than card-carrying communism) it corrected itself by inserting 50 unmitigated loonies called the Tea Party caucus into the 435 member House of Representatives; the ‘lower house’. In a European country with a managed institutional system, these fruitcakes would be confined at public cost, medicated, and cared for.
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Neither the Constitution nor the doctrine of separation of powers is to blame if Mad-Hatters take over Congress and prance in bibs spilling scalding hot folly all over. The blame falls on voters in 50 US congressional districts who chose these tenderfoots, now holding the Republican Party and House Speaker John Boehner hostage. The 2012 elections did a funny thing; America re-elected a black president of liberal bent, but in fear it had gone too far (racism is not far below the surface in some Americans and liberalism is only a shade less awful than card-carrying communism) it corrected itself by inserting 50 unmitigated loonies called the Tea Party caucus into the 435 member House of Representatives; the ‘lower house’. In a European country with a managed institutional system, these fruitcakes would be confined at public cost, medicated, and cared for.
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