{"id":70216,"date":"2020-09-07T21:03:04","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T02:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=70216"},"modified":"2020-09-07T23:00:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T04:00:33","slug":"by-focussing-on-the-technicalities-of-the-19th-amendment-the-rajapaksas-are-trying-to-quietly-erase-the-historic-pledge-of-abolishing-the-executive-presidency-from-public-discourse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=70216","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBy focussing on the technicalities of the 19th Amendment, the Rajapaksas are trying to quietly erase the historic pledge of abolishing the executive presidency from public discourse.\u201d – M.A. Sumanthiran PC"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan <\/strong><\/p>\n

When the Sri Lankan government recently gazetted the draft 20th Amendment (20 A) to the Constitution, it was merely keeping an election promise \u2014 to repeal the 19th Amendment of 2015 that clipped the Executive President\u2019s unfettered powers, in turn empowering Parliament. With the necessary two-third majority on their side, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s government is now closer to enacting it.<\/p>\n

However, Opposition parties are strongly opposing the move that, they fear, will take the country back by a decade, to the days of the 18th Amendment.<\/p>\n

Brought in by former President and current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010, it added wide-ranging powers and sweeping immunity to the President\u2019s office, while removing its term limit. Among the very few key features that the 20th Amendment Bill retains from the 19th Amendment are the five-year terms for the President and Parliament, and the two-term limit to presidency.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Following its parliamentary group meeting on Monday, the main Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB, or United People\u2019s Front) resolved to challenge the government\u2019s move. \u201cThe [proposed] 20th Amendment will lead to concentration of all power in the President\u2019s office, whereas Parliament will be a rubber stamp with no powers. The President is trying to do away with the legislature and judiciary,\u201d said Harsha de Silva, the party\u2019s Colombo MP.<\/p>\n

\u2018Virulent form\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to reducing judicial review and curbing citizens\u2019 right to challenge Bills, the proposed amendment allows the President to dissolve Parliament after one year. Further, it discards the Constitutional Council that vetted appointments to the judiciary and independent commissions, instead opting for a Parliamentary Council whose approval the President will not require while making key appointments.<\/p>\n

The prospect of significantly greater presidential powers without restraint has raised alarm within Sri Lankan civil society. The Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives noted that denying the citizen the opportunity to challenge the Executive\u2019s actions through fundamental rights applications suggested that \u201cthe President is above the law\u201d. The amendment Bill underscores a \u201cparticularly virulent form of Presidentialism\u201d, said senior constitutional lawyer Kishali Pinto Jayawardene in the Sunday Times recently.<\/p>\n

Ceremonial PM<\/strong><\/p>\n

While on the one hand, the Bill explicitly seeks to make the President way more powerful, it also drastically reduces the authority and functions of the Prime Minister, sparking speculation over the power dynamic between the ruling Rajapaksa brothers in such a scenario. The PM \u201chas been reduced to a mere functionary consulted in most cases only \u201cif necessary\u201d, the Sunday Times noted in its editorial.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Despite growing opposition from many quarters, the government, assured of the required numbers in the 225-member legislature, is likely to go ahead with its pledge. Asked how the SJB might oppose it, with only 54 members in the House, Mr. de Silva said the party would mobilise other parties and seek public support. \u201cWe will oppose the move inside and outside Parliament,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jaffna legislator and Tamil National Alliance spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran cautioned against getting trapped in the technicalities of the 19th Amendment or its likely replacement, for it might take the focus away from the historic promise to abolish Executive Presidency.<\/p>\n

Ever since the 1978 Constitution \u2014 under the United National Party (UNP) government \u2014 was enacted with a 5\/6th majority in Parliament, there has been consistent opposition to Executive Presidency, from the then Opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and all other opposition parties. Even the UNP, which initially brought in such a powerful presidency, in 1996 resolved to abolish it, paying heed to the growing public opinion against the system.<\/p>\n

Since the 1990s, almost every presidential election \u2014 including when Mahinda Rajapaksa ran in 2005 \u2014 was won on the promise of abolishing Executive Presidency, except that none of the leaders kept their word. \u201cThe 2015 election too was fought on the same assurance by the Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe coalition. The 19th Amendment that imposed substantial curbs on presidential powers was the first step in that direction,\u201d said Mr. Sumanthiran, a senior constitutional lawyer.<\/p>\n

Power struggle<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rajapaksa camp \u2014 most of whom voted in favour of the 2015 legislation \u2014 subsequently blamed the 19th Amendment for the power struggle between the President and the PM in the last government, which, they argue, led to the grave lapses in the intelligence apparatus, leading to the Easter terror blasts in April 2019.<\/p>\n

The Rajapaksas made the abolition of the 19th Amendment a key poll pledge in the November 2019 presidential race, and the August general election this year, seeking a super majority for the same. \u201cWhile it is true that the draft 20th Amendment seeks to enhance executive powers, just as the 18th Amendment did, we should not lose sight of the need to abolish the extremely problematic Executive Presidency system itself. The Opposition to the draft Amendment should be centred on this,\u201d Mr. Sumanthiran said, adding: \u201cBy focussing on the technicalities of the 19th Amendment, the Rajapaksas are trying to quietly erase the historic pledge from public discourse.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Meera Srinivasan When the Sri Lankan government recently gazetted the draft 20th Amendment (20 A) to the Constitution, it was merely keeping an election promise \u2014 to repeal the 19th Amendment of 2015 that clipped the Executive President\u2019s unfettered powers, in turn empowering Parliament. With the necessary two-third majority on their side, President Gotabaya …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘\u201cBy focussing on the technicalities of the 19th Amendment, the Rajapaksas are trying to quietly erase the historic pledge of abolishing the executive presidency from public discourse.\u201d – M.A. Sumanthiran PC’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70217,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70216\/revisions\/70217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}