| by Gomin Dayasri
( October 28, 2012, Colombo, Sri
Lanka Guardian) Hark, hark, dogs do bark; sleeping dogs – the procrastinators,
warm stools in high places without attending to the imperatives after securing
a 2/3 majority. Awake before it’s too late- this could be the last call on the
13th Amendment.
The impact of the 13th amendment
can be diminished or demolished, satisfactorily, if the legitimate grievances
of Tamils, as identified in the LLRC report and accepted by the government in
its Action Plan presented to Hillary Clinton, is implemented/ This is a
preferred alternative. It means directly addressing the problems of Tamil
people in the North/East, satisfying their prime necessities. Political power
the TNA seeks through the 13th amendment to reach a circumscribed federal
status is ancillary and could be averted.
Difference stands out - the TNA
is greedy for power while Tamil people seek relief for many of their unresolved
problems. The TNA will never seek reconciliation between the Sinhalese and the
Tamils, with or without the 13th amendment, since it needs the issue survival
and strives for acrimony between communities, as did the LTTE.
 |
Government faults the 13th amendment and there is little else beside its loose talk of a 13 plus/minus situation to irritate India: the Opposition supports the 13th amendment and is totally discounted, as shown when the vote is exercised at elections. The 13th amendment continues Reign supreme and a woeful future awaits Sri Lanka if the tendency to dawdle remains untouched.
Procrastination on the
LLRC/Action Plan will be felt more in March 2013 than November 2012 at the
UNHCR. Be ready to face allegations of sub-standard and undone work at the
coming sessions. Peal every bell in temple, kovil or church - it falls on deaf
ear. Failure to push officials who failed to present positive results gives us
a bad name. Timely action on promised premise would have assuaged India and the
USA and helped to prevent efforts of a silent regime change that is being
engineered from outside our shores.
The government specifically
sought a 2/3 majority and voters nearly provided it to a government that had
gained confidence by successfully wiping out terrorism. Defections that
followed provided the needed numbers. Has anything worthwhile materialized out
of this majority? Why was it sought and why was it provided? The answer is
obvious - to change the constitution.
Imposed forcibly by India, it
being no home grown remedy: the 13th amendment has been in existence for nearly
30 years, without any beneficial impact. It’s a wasteful extravagance that has
remained without repair or replacement: no undertaking to rectify or revoke its
obnoxious provisions, notwithstanding talk and more talk. A task, only Mahinda
Rajapaksa is capable of fulfilling in the present political context if he is
sufficiently fired up and possesses a team to achieve it - instead of nitwit
voodoo advisors.
Government faults the 13th
amendment and there is little else beside its loose talk of a 13 plus/minus
situation to irritate India: the Opposition supports the 13th amendment and is
totally discounted, as shown when the vote is exercised at elections. The 13th
amendment continues Reign supreme and a woeful future awaits Sri Lanka if the
tendency to dawdle remains untouched.
National experience shows Sri
Lankans can make things turn for the better if decisions, however hard, are
made. Rallying around the national flag the people undertook a mission to back
the security forces to the hilt, in more gruesome times, to snatch a victory
from the jaws of defeat. Sri Lankans have the spirit and the dedication to
achieve the impossible, asking hostile nations to mind their affairs without
interfering in our domestic matters.
Has Lanka’s euphoria waned and
the dedication dimmed with the post war architecture where skeptics have gained
ground? Gone back for a snooze in the land of nod? It’s more convenient to do
nothing and sit on your backside allowing the 13th amendment to wend it way on
tiptoe on interpretations given by the judiciary. Unconsciously, we are
entrusting the upkeep of the constitution to the judiciary – a matter that was
never contemplated by the founding fathers who later had to helplessly watch the
weaving of an Indian design around the 13th amendment, mother of most problems,
in the time of J.R. Jayewardene.
The 13th amendment has resurfaced
with suggestions it be leveled to the ground, ironically coming from sources
deemed influential and persuasive. The country is in it’s last lap with a 2/3
majority on its final journey before being laid to rest– it’s a now or never
opportunity - with five options to choose from- (A) Confer powers so far not
delegated, including police and land powers, to the Provincial Councils and
attach the concurrent list to the provincial council list. (B) Leave the 13th
amendment as it is and procrastinate with idle small talk. (C) Eliminate police
and land powers conferred on the provincial councils and redistribute the subjects
dealt in the three schedules whereby national interest is safeguarded (D) Take
the 13th amendment comprehensively off the constitutional map and redraft
provisions to provide for the hiatus, (E) Leave it to judiciary through
interpretation to determine whether Sri Lanka’s constitutional character is
bent towards a exclusively unitary or a semi-federal structure. If judicial
interpretation swings in favor of the ‘federophiles’ it would lead to
federalism and a division of the country.
Option A:
This is the desire of the TNA and
left elements within and outsize the government. The TNA craves through the
13th amendment and with favorable judicial interpretations, to reach the
promised land of Eelam via federalism through a legislative cum judicial process.
For the left, with its ageing leadership more ready for nursing homes than
parliament, their political philosophy been laid to rest in the mausoleums of
Stalin and Mao Tse-tung by the voters. They do not count any more except as
votes in securing a desired majority in Parliament - a heavy price to be paid
for having them as appointed MPs on the parliamentary payroll.
Option A is comprehensively
outside the Rajapaksa agenda and probably not favored by the UNP in conferring
police powers to the Provincial Councils. But the trends in judicial
interpretations are unpredictable. It was safe under Sarath Silva in the
Supreme Court as in his patriotic moments he would not permit a swing towards
federalism after his decision in the de-merger case.
Option B
This is the procrastinators’
dream world and a likely eventuality that will be satisfactorily to the TNA, as
they would look forward to achieving their objective in the years ahead through
a Supreme Court veering towards their thinking under a changed administration.
Leaving the 13th amendment in its present form places the Supreme Court in a
pivotal position to interpret the constitution to confer more or less powers to
Provincial Councils – like tossing a coin in the air to watch whether it flips
heads or tails. Such are the ways of interpretation.
Option C
If a constitutional change is
envisaged, it is the least controversial route to take on the 13th amendment.
If properly marketed using a bipartisan approach, the UNP may come on board.
Only a few left leaners will be left out from the southern block. More likely,
the UNP may change course to use it as a bargaining chip to make inroads into
the minority vote. If the wrong option is taken, the UNP will have many more
years in the opposition if the national fervor reaches a climax. If option C is
taken the venomous sting is de-fanged out of the 13th amendment but the
extravagances associate with the Provincial Councils will remain. To reach
grassroots, Grama Sabha system would be an imperative need to supplement the
vacant mezzanine floor that exists between the tiers of the Central Government
and the People at ground level.
Option D
This is the most favorable option
from a country perspective to restructure the entire constitution to satisfy
the needs of people after ending terrorism - jettisoning the Indian edition of
the 13th amendment. It requires a bold initiative President Rajapaksa alone is
capable of taking and if accomplished satisfactorily will be of lasting value.
The people will undergo any economic hardship to achieve the objective if
attended with a sense of justice and equity. Opposition from hostile local and
international forces would be immense. Would the government be strong enough to
overcome the onslaught as during the war? The blessing of the majority will be
with such a venture.
Option E
The Supreme Court can freely
interpret the Constitution and should not be faulted on interpretation with the
13thamendment in place: the dividing line is running thin - a most disturbing
aspect. This is the route to follow to get on the federal highway and the TNA
is already on a by-road. Jurisprudential schools believe that interpretation by
the judiciary is often a discretionary inclination based on individuality and
is the reason for a judge in the USA to have his track record minutely examined
before appointment. The fault is more with the legislature for placing the
judiciary in jeopardy by introducing the dubious 13th amendment to the
constitution leaving scope for interpretation. Leaving such power of
interpretation in a body not elected by the people means that the fate of a
nation could be decided by a few. Loyalty of the Supreme Court to a unitary
state as declared by the Constitution, will be the decider and composition of a
single bench to hear a crucial case can change history.
Sinhala lobbyists maintain that
grievances are common to the people of all communities which is an over
simplification of a grave issue. True, most grievances are but not all, with a
few of the prominent being exclusive to varied ethnic groups. Language rights
in the use of Tamil conferred in 1958 by legislation have yet to be fully
functional and are indeed belated for which all governments should take the
blame. If a trilingual society emerges, as currently envisaged, problems can be
solved by a direct dialogue and learning the others language has been endorsed
by 94% of the Tamils in the North /East and 92% of the Sinhalese in the South
as revealed at recent survey undertaken by the government. Naturally the TNA
does not support the venture.
Even at the cost of being accused
of being chauvinists by the extreme Tamil elements and as ‘Tigers’ in sheep’s
clothing by a few in the Sinhala diaspora, we must realize that we can live in
harmony provided we understand rationally the problems others face instead of
thinking only of our problems alone.
 Hark, hark, dogs do bark; sleeping dogs – the procrastina...){kind=link}