The new constitution for Sri Lanka

 The draft of the 20th amendment to the constitution has been published. It contains no surprises, the main thrust is to centralise power in the Presidency, The only surprise really is that the term limit has been retained - something that is possibly due the problem of primogeniture.

We are also informed that a new constitution is also in the works. The question is why? If all the vital amendments were made in the 20th amendment, which is sure to pass unchanged what else is left to change?

There have been a few indications, the electoral system may change, there have been suggestions that the electoral threshold be raised from the current 5% to perhaps 10%. This would have the effect of disqualifying smaller parties such as the JVP. There have been calls to 'ban' ethnic or religious based parties, so this may also figure; although the same may simply be achieved by judicious adjustment to the electoral threshold as these parties tend to be fairly small. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

According to this news report, only twelve clauses in the constitution would be retained; those relating to " sovereignty, territorial integrity, Buddhism, the National Anthem and the National Flag".

This indicates a complete remaking of the state, what may we expect?

The rulers envision a development state and look to East Asia for ideas. The country that approximates Sri Lanka in East Asia is - Malaysia, which also had a British colonial experience and deals with a multi-ethnic society. The constitutional arrangements of Malaysia may therefore be an inspiration for Sri Lanka's new constitution makers.  There will also undoubtedly be some invoking of the land's ancient past, perhaps embellished by nuggets extracted by the task force on archaeology.

In particular the changes to Malaysia's constitution following the race riots of 1969 may feature, including some aspects of the New Economic Policy.

"From the ashes of the bloody riots, a new social compact was forged in the form of the New Economic Policy (NEP) which laid the ground for an assertion of Malay nationalism in various sectors including education and the economy through social reengineering and affirmative action programs. The national political landscape was also transformed with the creation of the BN grand coalition in 1973, which absorbed opposition parties including PAS, Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in West Malaysia. This had the effect of restoring the two-thirds majority in Parliament and consolidating control over every state government in the country.

Armed with total control, Razak moved to enshrine the new social compromises through the controversial Constitution (Amendment) Act 1971. Dubbed the “sensitive matters amendment”, seven articles were changed including those governing freedom of speech, assembly and association, parliamentary privileges, the national language, and the expansion of the scope of Article 153 that deals with the protection of the “special position” of the Malays.

As a result of the amendments, fundamental liberties were proscribed so that “sensitive matters”—defined to include issues such as citizenship, language, the special position of the Malays and the natives of Borneo, and the rulers’ sovereignty—could not be discussed openly, even in Parliament. The Sedition Act, previously inapplicable within the confines of the august House and state legislatures, now applies throughout.

These amendments were further augmented by other proscriptive legislation, such as the University and University College Act 1971, which forbade university students from participating in political activities, and the Official Secrets Act 1972, which cast a wide net for deeming what is confidential and hence unlawful to disseminate.

Further to that, Article 159 was altered so that the consent of the Conference of Rulers, previously required only for amendments to provisions affecting the special position of the Malays and the rulers themselves, was now also required for those affecting the national language, parliamentary privilege and certain fundamental liberties. Meanwhile, Article 153 was modified to allow the creation of quotas for Malays and natives in institutions of higher education, in addition to existing quotas for public service, education and commercial permits and licenses." Sourced from here.

 

 

Minor edits done on 12th September.