Et tu, Sirisena?
Posted on December 24th, 2015

Dr. Kingsley A. de Alwis Courtesy Island

Recent news reports say that President Sirisena is to present a motion to convert the Parliament into a Constituent Assembly on January 9, 2016. This is indeed a stab in the back of the people who, under the leadership of civil society, voted him into power one year before on that very date. Et tu Sirisena?

It will simply mean that we could end up with a constitution of the politicians, by the politicians, for the benefit of politicians. Considering the quality of the MPs in Parliament, we will have to expect the worst. The Constitution is the highest law of the land.

Can it be left to a bunch of people among whom are those of proven dishonesty and criminal backgrounds, not to mention low IQ?

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The process of constitution-making is as critical as the substance of the Constitution. If the people are not consulted, and have no input into making the Constitution, they will have no ownership or acceptance of the resulting laws. It may be laying the foundation for anarchy, because people can have no respect for a constitution which they had no say in framing. To be accepted by the general body politic, the Constitution should be based on public consultations with civil society, including professional organizations, trade unions, the business community, religious bodies, academia, and ordinary citizens too.

The other essential requirement for framing a sound constitution acceptable to all is that enough time should be given to these organizations and ordinary citizens to make their contributions, and subsequently to give their comments on a draft constitution, once it is ready. Constitution making should not be a hurried process in which the views and aspirations of any significant group of people are ridden over roughshod. It would be a recipe for future disaster.

It would be wise to get the administrative and logistical assistance of the UN in the process of constitution making, in getting its expert advice on the actual drafting of the Constitution, and also in setting up mechanisms of public consultation at various stages of the process. The UN has recently helped a number of countries in constitution-making. These include Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, Nepal and Timor-Leste. We could benefit from the lessons learned from its experience in constitution making processes in these countries.

I appeal to the President not to allow self-seeking power-hungry politicians in Parliament to foist a faulty constitution on this country, thereby letting down the same civil society that brought him into power last January.

Dr. Kingsley A. de Alwis

One Response to “Et tu, Sirisena?”

  1. Lorenzo Says:

    This is how BRITISH IMPOSED DEMO-CRAZY is destroying SL.

    Now they will come up with a CON-STITUTION to merge SL with TAMIL MADU. There is nothing people can do.

    Tamil Madu people voted for Maru Sira and now he is INDEBTED to them. He will do anything for them. Otherwise who will vote for him in 2020? Who will vote for his son in 2026? Who will vote for his daughter in 2036?

    SINGAPORE on the other hand runs a DICTATORSHIP (with SHAM elections) and is a RICH country. They started BEHIND us in 1965 and look where they are.

    They wanted to COPY SL but NOT its useless democrazy.

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