Government Gets Prepared To Take Up The Gauntlet
By Jehan Perera –September 19, 2016
Jehan Perera
Government leaders have been saying that the draft constitution will be placed before the Parliament prior to the budget debate that takes place in November. A new constitution which would require a referendum could prove to be the government’s Waterloo if the people reject it. Last week Chairman of the Public Representations Committee Lal Wijenayake, made an announcement that five of the six sub-committees of Parliament that had been delegated the task of submitting reports on various aspects of the new constitution had completed their work. The Public Representations Committee (PRC), appointed by the Prime Minister with 19 other members, made a special effort in consultations with the general public on the matters connected with the drafting of the new constitution. Chairman Wijenayake assured those who had made submissions to the PRC that their views would be taken into account in the drafting of the new constitution.
The public consultation process that took place on this occasion, even for a limited period of time, was a new development in Sri Lanka. Both the previous constitutions, the ones drafted in 1972 and 1978, were devised by a few persons drawn from politics and lawyers. They made crucially important decisions without consulting the people and ascertaining their views. In 1972, the drafters of the constitution decided to subordinate the judiciary to the executive branch of government, which eroded the concept of checks and balances in governance. The people were not consulted regarding this major change that took the country in the direction of authoritarian rule, which is only being reversed today. In 1978 the constitutional drafters decided to vest super powers in the institution of the executive presidency, which further entrenched authoritarian rule, again without obtaining the concurrence of the people.
Unlike in the past, on this occasion, the government conducted public consultations. There have been concerns expressed about the depth and breadth of the consultation process. The time frame of six months was short. The existence of the consultation process was not well known by the general public and therefore public participation in the consultations at all levels was limited. The exercise was not widely advertised. The members of the PRC had to utilise their contacts and influence to obtain people’s participation. The resources allocated by the government to the consultation process were also limited. But the commitment of those who had been appointed to be members of the PRC ensured that a credible process of consultations took place.
Misleading People
It is worth noting that the 200 plus page report produced by the Public Representations Committee at the end of their consultation is very simply written and clear. It is understandable by those who might not wish to spend too much time studying legal terms. It sets out the major themes of debate on the controversial political issues that have divided the people of the country. It also gives what each of the committee members themselves thought in regard to each issue in order to provide transparency. Wherever the members of the committee could not make a single recommendation, because of their different points of view, they made multiple recommendations which were often at odds with each other. Their goal was to provide the parliamentarians who are designing the new constitution with a sense of what types of thinking on controversial issues exists at the level of the people.
