From Elephant-Thieves To Tractable-Judges: Life In The Hub
| by Tisaranee Gunasekara
“The Bad Lands and the sinister direction?”
Auden (The Crossroads)
( May 8, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Imagine a Sri Lanka without the 18th Amendment.
There would have been repression and corruption, illegality and impunity, but not too far in excess of the normal Lankan template. The final term of President Rajapaksa would be drawing to a close. Any attempt to perpetuate Familial Rule by nominating Basil, Chamal or Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the UPFA presidential candidate would have been robustly resisted by the SLFP. Since the 17th Amendment would still exist, the Elections Commissioner, the police and the judiciary might be less subservient, especially with the Rajapaksa years drawing to a close.