| by Shyamon Jayasinghe
( April 10, 2013, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) When we observe Buddhist monks full of rage and lust for the exercise of physical power going about the country with a creed of hate and a call to arms against Muslims and other ‘non-believers,’ the sight of a sagely monk calmly, serenely, peacefully and intelligently campaigning for a change in the constitution that will benefit all and restore peace, it is much more than a breath of fresh air. It is the very embodiment of hope for a nation in an era of hopelessness; a beacon of value in times that are being stripped of values; a solid and noble sentry that’s watching, concerned over a nation that is tearing itself away and drawing toward a perilous end.
While men and women in prominent positions-in the academia, in the Public Service, in business, in media and in the NGO system have opted out of fear or possible gain to remain bystanders and while a good many of the Sinhala Diaspora are parroting the rhetoric of the Buddhist Taliban here is a benign soul who has thrown in his lot with the future of our island and the long-term welfare of its people. Ven. Maduluwave Sobitha would unmistakably stand to gain in all material trappings like luxury cars, trips overseas and some financial deals to boot had he chosen to ignore his conscience and gone with the official line as some of his corrupt colleagues have done. Yet, he has put the nation and the people above himself. There is no agitation in him; no impatience with those who have chosen to prostitute the Dhamma. Yet, he keeps pressing softly and gently exuding a measure of the radiance of the Great Master. He knows he has found the solution.
In the Cunda Sutta the Buddha told Cunda, the smith: "there are four kinds of monks, not a fifth. One kind has won the path; one expounds the path; one lives the path and one defiles the path." It is a matter of serious concern for true Buddhists that there are such large numbers of defilers wearing the robes of the well-conducted monks. By their incendiary rhetoric the latter variety of monks are able to gather mobs around them that become destructive. One of the monks belonging to these raucous, Buddhist Taliban called upon every monk in every temple to act as a cop "on behalf of the Buddhists." Muslim traders are being intimidated; mosques and churches attacked. One media image of a raging monk was particularly disgusting.
Ven. Maduluwave Sobitha’s mission is of a totally different kind. He was quick to diagnose that Sri Lanka’s disease is a fault in the system or a systemic flaw. The root is the document that bares out the rules of the business of running the country or the social contract between people and their rulers. From this systemic blemish all current evils flow. If this script is not discarded all political actors now and in the future, whatever the color, will dance the devil.
Ven. Sobitha rallied around him some eminent persons not tied to any political party, formed the National Movement for Social Justice and has now drafted proposals to amend the constitution of Sri Lanka. The drafting committee was headed by constitutional lawyer, Jayampathy Wickremaratne.
In 1978 JR Jayewardene introduced the present constitution in a self-hallucinatory moment when he thought he could remain in power until death with the help of it. The pre-1978 Westminster-type constitution gave our island peace and genuine development carried out under it projects without epithets like ‘GamUdawa,’ ‘Divineguma,’ ‘Deyata Kirula,’ ‘MathataThitha,’and so on. It was under the Pre-1978 constitution that huge Sri Lankan infrastructure like the numerous irrigation networks were built; massive colonization schemes were set up; Madya MahaVidyalayas and Maha Vidyalas were established; universities and technical colleges were founded; a vibrant healthcare system was instituted and so on and so on. Sri Lanka had no pretending patriots those days; no claims of ‘aascharyas’. D. S. Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, Sirimawo Bandaranaika and JR himself for the first part of his rule, dealt with positive construction and positive development. Also,the great revolution of the liberalized economy, the Free Trade Zones, and the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Scheme etc-were all done or planned before the bahubootha vyawasthawa. Structural changes were introduced and indeed the country was looking forward.
Alas! JR’s madness came down on the nation and the country began a slide to authoritarian rule where one man knows the truth and where one man decides for the entire nation. The trend that JR’s constitution led to has reached logical culmination in nationally catastrophic proportions under the current regime. The new scenario is that the man in the center will decide that there must be a harbour in Hamabantota and an airport in Mattala regardless of the country’s needs and without proper prior study. Hey presto, these projects came up thanks to Chinese loans. In the same vein the centre decides to nail and jail Sarath Fonseka, once described as ‘the greatest army commander in the world’. Also, the centre decides that the Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayake must go home. MPs put their hands up and she was gone! Hang due process, the rule of law and principle of natural justice. Nobody dares challenge the centre.
To quote an apt example from outside Lanka we have a dictator in North Korea who has decided that he must go to war with South Korea and America. Even in the face of a crumbling domestic economy Kim Jong-un has decided that the country’s top priority is war! He is rallying round patriots for this cause. The media is being shaped to dupe the people into believing that the "Dear Leader," has found an incarnation in Kim Jong-un.
Under this absolutist constitution all power is concentrated in the centre and there is little space for institutional independence that alone can bring truly creative and productive decisions for the people. Furthermore, the seductive power of the centre will complement the proclivity for authoritarian rule. Centralised decision making is inherently flawed. The way is paved for a corrupt tyranny.
The central plank of Ven. Sobitha’s platform is the abolition of this absolutist constitution and its replacement by the Westminster model of more collective decision-making. The Prime Minister in Britain is said to be primus interpares or ‘first among equals’. This has, however, not meant a weakening of the centre in countries like Britain and Australia that follow the Westminster model. In effect, British Prime Ministers and Australian Prime Ministershave been virtual presidents and their election campaigns are done in presidential style. When Kevin Rudd led the Labor campaign in 2007 the slogan was "Kevin 07." How did that differ from Obama’s campaign? On the other hand, the office of the president of Sri Lanka is something overpowering and capable of invading the whole government apparatus once parliamentary control is obtained. This appalling invasion is what discerning Lankans see taking place today. Parliament, the judiciary, elections, the Attorney General, the Auditor General, the police and all institutions that are expected to remain independent of each others to check an executive that can go wrong are under the president’s heel.
This is why Ven. Sobitha’s proposals are also aimed at restoring the independence of the judiciary, elections, Public Service etc so that the rule of law could be revived. He also wants the country to revert to First- Past- the Post- system of elections which we had before 1978. Under the prevailing proportional representation (PR) system all that a candidate for parliamentary elections needs do is to have his/her name placed on the party list. He need not have an electoral base and he can be any bandit or drug dealer. The party bureaucracy (in effect, again the president) decides. Under the old system a potential candidate was tied to a particular electorate and he was answerable to that electorate. But, today, MPs could do anything paying no heed to the wishes of the people, for all they have to do to remain in power is to please the party and the president.
The campaign of Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha and his National Movement for Social Justice has to have a wider appeal before it can succeed. The ruling class and those striving to capture state power have benefited from the current system and therefore will not yield unless forced.
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