{"id":69210,"date":"2017-08-31T21:51:28","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T03:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=69210"},"modified":"2017-08-25T16:16:33","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T23:16:33","slug":"since-1987-what-we-have-in-sri-lanka-is-a-federal-system-what-is-now-being-proposed-is-form-of-a-confederal-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/08\/31\/since-1987-what-we-have-in-sri-lanka-is-a-federal-system-what-is-now-being-proposed-is-form-of-a-confederal-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Since 1987 what we have in Sri Lanka is a federal system, what is now being proposed is\u00a0 form of a confederal system"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Reports by the Parliament\u2019s six sub committees <\/strong><\/p>\n

Undoubtedly the reports published in 2016 by the Parliament\u2019s six sub committees on constitutional reform are most damaging and frightening. They threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation. Among\u00a0 the\u00a0 proposals are giving land and police powers to the provinces.\u00a0 This means the Chief Minister of the Northern Province will be able to decide not only who can\u00a0 own land in that province, but, who can enter those lands as well. Basically, if he so wishes (with concurrence of his Northern Provincial Council Parliament), the Chief Minister can prevent Sinhalese from entering northern lands (ie beyond\u00a0 Vavuniya towards Jaffna); the Chief Minister can offer northern land to Thamilnadu people. Basically, he would be able to do anything with this most important, vast, prosperous land (where Nagadipa, Dambakola Patuna, Thambapanni are located. Jaffna was formally named, Yapa Patuna). The Sinhalese who were ethnically cleansed from this province by Prabhakaran in late 1970s and early 1980s can be totally restricted from re-entering the province (the writer\u2019s group works with Northern Sinhalese who are keen to return to the North).\u00a0 Sinhalese who wish to establish farms, businesses or want to live in the north with families \u00a0are already prohibited from doing so (freedom of movement is implied in our Constitution!). On the contrary, Tamils are able to freely move in the country and live wherever they like. Those who preach \u2018Sanhindiyawa\u2019 fail to acknowledge and address this grave injustice to the Sinhalese.<\/p>\n

The same scenario can apply in the Eastern Province.<\/p>\n

The North and East consist of 1\/3 of Sri Lanka\u2019s land mass and about 2\/3 of the coast. These are the best parts of Sri Lanka and where empty land is available in plenty.\u00a0 The South is chock a blocked, and people build houses even on 2 perches of land.<\/p>\n

There is hardly any new land available in the South for citizens of Sri Lanka to live except in the North and East. The situation will become very grave in the future.<\/p>\n

Again, the proposed constitutional reforms are so damaging and dangerous, they have the potential to create \u00a0nine separate states within one Sri Lanka.\u00a0 Yet there is lukewarm response to them from the\u00a0 majority Sinhalese.\u00a0 It seems the general populous is not concerned about the danger that the current proposals will bringforth to the country. The reason for this will be discussed later in this paper (that, we patriots are also partly to be blamed for creating this public apathy).<\/p>\n

13th Amendment <\/strong><\/p>\n

The 13th Amendment enacted in 1987 under the JR Jayawardane government led the way to create nine Provincial Councils (governments) in the country. This was a massive watershed in Sri Lanka\u2019s political landscape. With so many layers of governments in place, we became one of the highly governed states of the world.<\/p>\n

The enactment was done amid huge public protest and discontentment. The public outcry was so outraged and huge that the government declared an island wide curfew in order to sign the infamous Indo-Lanka accord.\u00a0 Hundreds of protesters were shot dead by the government\u2019s security forces.\u00a0 It is believed closer to 500 buses belonging to the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) were set on fire by \u2018unruly\u2019 mobs. Further, large scale destructions were caused to public property in major cities. A navy soldier who detested the new system, went on assaulting the then Indian Prime Minister who had come to sign the Indo-Lanka accord.<\/p>\n

The creation of the provincial council governments is one of the worst things that has happened to Sri Lanka since the independence. It has caused enormous economic and social damage to the country.\u00a0 It has confused our way of living, and the country has become a beehive of corruption.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the provincial government system has made Sri Lanka poorer.<\/p>\n

Unlike India (1.2 billion people), Sri Lanka (21 million people) is too small to be governed by nine separate provincial governments. What Sri Lanka needs is a strong central government with a decentralised administration system (emphasis on strong local government \u2013 Pradeshiya Sabhas, Municipal Councils etc). In this regard, the Saulbury Constitution served the country very well. It is believed when we gained independence Sri Lanka had the 2nd strongest economy in Asia, after Japan. Today we are considered a basket case in Asia (to understand how we have come to this situation, read the writer\u2019s two books, \u0dc4\u0ddc\u0db3 \u0d8b\u0dc0\u0daf\u0dd9\u0dc3\u0dca 1 & 2 \u2013 KKN publications 2016; Sarasawi- Nugegoda\/arwdc@bigpond,com).<\/p>\n

Provincial Governments are White Elephants<\/strong><\/p>\n

The provincial governments are heavily dependent on the central government; the central government spends billions of rupees to manage and maintain the provincial governments every year. For this, it borrows heavily from the international money markets leaving, scores of our future generations debt ridden.<\/p>\n

Up keeping the provincial government machinery and staff\u00a0 has been a nightmarish exercise to central governments.\u00a0 Maintenance of the newly created provincial governments are so expensive, they are often referred to as white elephants. The provincial government memebers\u00a0 are required to be\u00a0 provided with wages, luxury vehicles, plush offices, comfortable residences, body guards, \u00a0security, other staff, foreign trips and many other perks and facilities \u2013 all at the public\u2019s expense. Not even wealthy governments can sustain such a huge scale expenditure. But, Sri Lanka has done so for the last 30 years; again, at the expense of the innocent public, some of whom do not know where the next meal will come from.<\/p>\n

Maladministration, bribery and corruption of the Governments<\/strong><\/p>\n

To raise funds for the increased expenditure, the central governments in the past 25 years have borrowed heavily internationally. They have also increased taxes by tenfold. Though they do not have taxation\u00a0 power, the provincial governments too have gradually introduced various levies, duties, fines etc within their systems. These measures have resulted in Sri Lanka becoming one of the most heavily debt ridden and taxed nations in the world. \u00a0The country\u2019s people have realised it has become impossible for them to \u2018tighten their belts\u2019 any more. Many educated people left the country in the 1980s and 1990s to escape the war, maladministration, bribery and corruption etc.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s cost of living has sky rocketed. A loaf of bread that was 35 cents about three decades ago now costs about Rs 80 (an increase by 228 times). True the middle class has expanded (largely due to remittances from the migrant labour; the vast economic growth of India and China have benefitted the country tremendously), they have money to build houses and buy expensive vehicles.\u00a0 But, the condition of the poor has transformed from bad to worse. Though the governments do not want to acknowledge, people have died of starvation and this will continue to be the case. In some hospitals people sleep on the floor and classes in rural schools, owing to lack of buildings, are conducted under trees.\u00a0 People travel in rickety old buses and trains, jammed as sardines. There is hardly any public transport available in the country after 8 pm (private bus owners have the say in deciding\u00a0 routes and timetables). There is no effective social security system in the country where the unemployed, the sick and the socially disadvantaged can be well assisted and cared for.<\/p>\n

To make things worse, recent governments have concentrated on mega projects to develop the country rather than focusing on small scale projects like incentives to small business, micro credit, assisting poor women who want to be self-reliant \u00a0and improving rural infrastructure like repairing remote roads, bridges, irrigation tanks and providing an effective public transport system (buses and trains). It is lucrative for the politicians to engage in mega projects as commissions they receive would make them mega rich.<\/p>\n

Why the populous is so lethargic and complacent about the proposed Constitutional changes?:\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the main faults we patriots have committed was that we have not been able to convince the populace that the proposed changes has the potential to create nine separate countries within one country (please refer to the writer\u2019s article \u2018\u0dba\u0ddd\u0da2\u0dd2\u0dad \u0db1\u0dc0 \u0d86\u0dab\u0dca\u200c\u0da9\u0dd4\u0d9a\u0dca\u200d\u0dbb\u0db8 \u0dc0\u0dca\u200d\u0dba\u0dc0\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dae\u0dcf\u0dc0\u0da7 \u0d85\u0db4 \u0dad\u0dbb\u0dba\u0dda\u00a0 \u0dc0\u0dd2\u0dbb\u0dd4\u0daf\u0dca\u0db0 \u0dc0\u0dd9\u0db8\u0dd4, \u0dba\u0ddd\u0da2\u0dd2\u0dad \u0db1\u0dc0 \u0d86\u0dab\u0dca\u200c\u0da9\u0dd4\u0d9a\u0dca\u200d\u0dbb\u0db8 \u0dc0\u0dca\u200d\u0dba\u0dc0\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dae\u0dcf\u0dc0\u0dd9\u0db1\u0dca \u0d85\u0dc0\u0dc3\u0dcf\u0db1\u0dba\u0dda\u0daf\u0dd3 \u0db6\u0dd2\u0dc4\u0dd2 \u0dc0\u0dd9\u0db1\u0dca\u0db1\u0dda \u0d8a\u0dbd\u0dcf\u0db8\u0dca \u0dbb\u0dcf\u0da2\u0dca\u200d\u0dba\u0dba\u0d9a\u0dd2\u2019 dated 12 December 2016, published in Lankaweb). Patriots continue to say that the new constitutional proposals will create a federal state in the country. This is a misnomer. This is a major error on their part.<\/p>\n

It is believed that through the Constitutional proposals each province will have its own head of the Police (similar to the present IGP), a separate Attorney- General and with the introduction of a Constitutional Court, the powers of the current Supreme Court (the highest court of the land) will be significantly curtailed. The Central government will no longer be able to carry out \u2018national policies\u2019 (like \u2018Mahinda Chinthana\u2019, \u2018Yahapalanaya\u2019) and the State Governors will \u00a0be appointed with concurrence of the Chief Ministers of the province (currently, the President holds this exclusive power). Even Gramasevakas who are currently federal government employees, who represent the federal government at grassroots level will become provincial government employees.<\/p>\n

Many Sri Lankans openly say if the new proposals lead to a federal state, then, they will not oppose them. They falsely believe that as far as the country remains one nation, the\u00a0 army is in the north; power should be devolved from the centre to the periphery to the maximum so that the minorities will be happy and will not rebel again. As the war has ended and bombs are not blasting on roadsides and the politicians cannot be trusted, many people do not care about Constitutional reforms. For them, their day to day issues are more important.<\/p>\n

There is some justification in the populous thinking in this manner. Countries that have federal governments such as Canada, Australia, India, France, Mexico, Brazil, Germany have remained one nation and Sri Lankan people\u00a0 know this.<\/p>\n

But, this is a misconception on their part. And, we have thus far been unable to convince Sri Lankans that it is unlikely that \u00a0Sri Lanka will remain as one nation if the constitutional reforms in its current form are carried out. One of the main reasons for this is that the new proposals will create a federation, when what it will actually create would be a form of confederation (we have a federal system already!).<\/p>\n

Furthermore, unlike other federal countries, there is a strong group in Sri Lanka who wants to divide Sri Lanka and create a separate nation.<\/p>\n

We patriots have failed to articulate to the masses that a\u00a0 strong federal state was already created in 1987 under JR Jayewardene\u2019s 13th Amendment (\u2018federal\u2019, \u2018federalism\u2019 were not cunningly mentioned in that document).<\/p>\n

As it is already there, nothing more is required to be done to create a federal state in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

This federal structure significantly and considerably eroded the supremacy and sovereignty of the Sri Lanka\u2019s Parliament.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s federal system is far more elaborate and substantive than that of India\u2019s and Australia\u2019s.\u00a0 For example, Article 154 G(3) of the Constitution that was introduced by the 13th Amendment requires a majority of 2\/3 of the members of Parliament to repeal or amend any statute passed by a Provincial Council; in India the federal parliament is able to repeal such a law only with a simple majority.\u00a0 In Australia, any state law that is inconsistent with a federal law is deemed illegal to the extent of the inconsistency. We have 73 subjects included in the concurrent list; it is far less than that of India\u2019s and Australia\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Article 154A (3) of the current Constitution (as a result of the 13th Amendment) allows the merger of provinces. \u00a0Such provisions are not included in the Indian and Australian Constitutions.<\/p>\n

It is true that per Article 154J, on the ground that maintenance of essential supplies and services are threatened or that security of the country is\u00a0 threatened by war or external aggression or armed rebellion, the President may be able to dissolve\u00a0 a\u00a0 provincial government after issuing a Proclamation under the\u00a0 \u2018Public Security Ordinance\u2019 (note: not under the 13th Amendment). The then President Ranasinghe Premadasa used this provision in 1991 to dissolve Vardharaja Perumal\u2019s provincial government because Perumal used the police force like an \u2018Army\u2019 and unilaterally declared the \u2018Tamil Eelam\u2019 in northern Sri Lanka. It is highly likely that even under the current federal system, such a scenario can re-occur. Under a TNA led Northern Provincial government, they can merge with the East (with the latter\u2019s consent), and create the new\u00a0 country \u2018North-Eastern Sri Lanka\u2019 (or Tamil Eelam) \u2013 encompassing 1\/3 of Sri Lanka\u2019s land mass and 2\/3 of the coast. There is no requirement for an islandwide plebiscite for this process to happen.<\/p>\n

The irony is that in the proposed new Constitution, Article 154J may be removed; we are unsure about this at this stage.<\/p>\n

It is in this framework that the government is anticipating to amend the Constitution yet again to give more powers to the provincial governments. A country\u2019s Constitution is not a Dog\u2019s Act<\/em> – to amend so many times during a short period of time.\u00a0 Within 30 years, we are about to amend it for the 20th<\/sup> time. Developed countries amend their Constitutions very rarely.\u00a0 Lee Kwan Yu (Singapore) and John Howard (Australia) both leaders stated that their countries should learn from Sri Lanka, and not change their Constitution.<\/p>\n

Federalism and confederalism <\/strong><\/p>\n

The main difference between federalism and confederalism is that in federalism the devolution of power happens within a unitary state and it creates regional (provincial level of governments) that are subordinate to the central, main government. It represents a central form in the pathway of regional integration.<\/p>\n

A confederate system sits at the other extreme in terms of centralisation. In a confederacy the central government is subordinate to the provincial governments.\u00a0 We definitely do not want such a system in Sri Lanka.\u00a0 As patriots we must educate the masses about this.\u00a0 A confederacy is a very loose relationship among a number of smaller political units. The vast majority of political power rests with the provincial\/regional governments; the central (confederal) government has very little power. The independent States of the former Soviet Union, Switzerland’s 26 canton system and the Confederate States of America (1861-1865), the Colonies of Australia (1778 \u2013 1900) before the federation are examples of confederal states. These confederal states no longer exist as they evolved to become separate nations.<\/p>\n

Recent past mistakes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The then government in 2009 soon after winning the war had the golden opportunity to disband the provincial governments altogether. The then leader on 19 May 2009 when he addressed the nation ought to have stated that the 13th Amendment\u00a0 was enacted owing to the terrorist war and since the terrorists were totally annihilated by the country\u2019s brave armed forces there was no need to continue with the 13th Amendment.\u00a0 He ought to have stated that all people henceforth should live as one people. Unfortunately, this did not happen. \u00a0The brave leadership that was expected from the leader, who provided fine political leadership to the war (2006 \u2013 2009), at that time did not come across. Then, again, in 2012, the then government had a golden opportunity to dismantle the provincial government system in entirety through an island wide plebiscite (all-island referendum), prior to holding the Northern Provincial Council election in 2013. We patriots worked day and night campaigning to make the referendum a reality; the government \u00a0was hell bent on preserving the provincial council system. Our meetings with very senior government officials became to no avail. Again, genuine leadership was not shown then.\u00a0 The government showed its extreme desire to maintain the provincial council system and to establish a new Northern Provincial Council, knowing well that that new Northern provincial government will be a threat to the country\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The government was not brave and forthright in thinking about the country\u2019s future as one nation \u2013 that, it is our paramount duty to preserve the country\u2019s sovereignty.\u00a0 The then leadership so desperate on holding CHOGM, very much wanted to hold the Northern Provincial Council election mainly to please the western world. The government knew that holding of the Northern Provincial Council election meant that giving power to a TNA led Northern Provincial Council that will not allow new Sinhalese to buy land and\/or live in the north. We all know CHOGM ended as a total publicity disaster for the then government and the new Northern Provincial Government as expected has become racist. One example is that it does little to stop elements from trying to remove Buddha statutes from their current places of religious worship. The examples of racism that Sinhalese have suffered in the North since 2013 are numerous (we have accounted some of them in our records, and have assisted people in taking action against some perpetrators).<\/p>\n

End<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is time we patriots come out of our \u2018nests\u2019 and say loudly and elaborately that the country already has a strong federal system (created in 1987), the proposed system will be the introduction of type of a confederal system which would eventually lead to secession (specifically due to our election of weak leaders in the country). We as a nation should oppose the Constitutional reforms as they currently stand.<\/p>\n

We should not disregard what the Parliament\u2019s subcommittee on centre-periphery relations, under the chairmanship of Dharmalingamn Siddhartham, TNA Member of Parliament from the North, articulated in its report that the unitary character of the current Constitution is an impediment to the effective functioning of provincial councils. Basically Mr Siddhartham was arguing that the current federal structure is inefficient and form of a confederation structure is required. He knows that that will lead to creation of the Tamil Eelam.<\/p>\n

Once something closer confederation is formed, with more powers (especially the\u00a0 Police and Land powers), the TNA led Northern Provincial government, may be able to make a successful UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence).\u00a0 Their constant demand to remove army camps from the north is also due to having this in mind. This is how Kosovo was accepted as a new nation \u2013 a declaration of independence by a group of people. The main criteria for Kosovo\u2019s formation and the recognition of the Balkan nations (Croatia, Bosnia, Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina) was the West\u2019s perceived interest to create such new nations. Even if we oppose it at that time, it will be a case of trying to shut the stable after the horse has bolted.<\/p>\n

We must never forget that TNA was the former LTTE proxy in the Parliament.<\/p>\n

The writer is a Lawyer<\/em><\/p>\n

srilankasupportgroup@bigpond.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage Reports by the Parliament\u2019s six sub committees Undoubtedly the reports published in 2016 by the Parliament\u2019s six sub committees on constitutional reform are most damaging and frightening. They threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation. Among\u00a0 the\u00a0 proposals are giving land and police powers to the provinces.\u00a0 This means the Chief […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chanaka-bandarage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}