Ceylon Today Editorial

Towards a new Constitution

21 November 2016

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had, on Saturday, submitted the reports of the six Parliamentary Subcommittees, on Constitutional Reforms, to the Constitutional Assembly. The reports extensively cover fundamental rights, the Judiciary, law and order, finance and restructuring the State sector.

Since the island nation is now focused on stabilizing peace and reconciliation in the country, a healthy new Constitution for unity and integrity as well as enhancing the economy, thus paving the way for greater development, remains the need of the hour.

The Constitutions brought out, since the country gained Independence, focused mainly on safeguarding the interests of the regimes and their leadership and hardly delivered anything fruitful to make the country's sovereignty meaningful, by recognizing rights of the minorities as well as strengthening human rights along with streamlining the State sector and the law and order situation.

The past three decades of civil strife in the country remained a stumbling block to bringing out any healthy changes to the existing Constitution or even bringing out a new Constitution to set aside the Executive Presidential system. The initiatives mooted by the present National Unity Government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has given hope towards democratizing the country extensively in every aspect as well as restructuring the State sector and the law and order machinery.

However, taking into consideration that finding a durable solution to minority issues has been emphasized in the recommendations made by the Constitutional Subcommittees, outlining the importance of extensive devolution of power to Provincial Councils in the lands and law and order sectors.

The 13th Amendment, from the time it was introduced to the Constitution three decades ago, still remains a challenge as far as the devolution of powers to the provinces are concerned. The regimes in the past had pledged to either implement the 13th Amendment in full or go beyond it with 13 A plus.

The six Parliamentary Subcommittees on Constitutional Reforms have identified the significance of giving due importance for the finer aspects in the 13th Amendment in the best interest of the provinces as well as the country at large. The six Subcommittees on Constitutional Reforms have conducted several meetings and held discussions countrywide in preparing their reports to the Constitutional Assembly.

Unlike in the past, a conducive atmosphere prevails in Parliament with the main Opposition party, led by the Tamil National Alliance, focused on finding a durable solution to the ethnic problem through a new Constitution without harming the sovereignty of the country.

The reports of the six Parliamentary Subcommittees seem to have gone extensively into every aspect in bringing out a new Constitution in the process of creating a peaceful and reconciled nation.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament on Saturday that the reports of the six Parliamentary Subcommittees would be made available to citizens of the country as well through proper channels and there won't be room for any 'hide and seek'. Despite the differences in political views, all parties in the country have a common stance on bringing an end to the existing Constitution with the Executive Presidential system.

As the reports of the six Parliamentary Subcommittees to the Constitutional Assembly have now been released by the Prime Minister, further analysis, discussions and debate on the reports must be carried out in a civilized manner in the best interest of the country, instead of political parties hanging on to vested interests and political agendas.

Daily News Editorial

A timely decision

21 November 2016

The decision by the government to get tough with unruly Buddhist monks, though long overdue, no doubt will be welcomed by a majority of Buddhists in this country. Speaking in Parliament on Friday Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said the government will henceforth come down hard against Buddhist monks, some of whom, he said, were acting like thugs tucking up their saffron robes and running on the streets. He said no Buddhist will condone the behaviour by these monks who only cause harm to the religion.

As Minister of Buddha Sasana, Rajapakshe is duty bound to put matters right in this respect. It is no secret that Buddhist monks are being used today by political parties to achieve their narrow ends. These monks make statements and act in a way that would make any true Buddhist cringe. There is one monk whose conduct is scandalous, to say the least. He once misbehaved in a courtroom, of all places, and went onto hector the presiding judge interrupting court proceedings.

Today, certain monks have become the storm troopers of the Joint Opposition and do the bidding of the Rajapaksas at every turn. Their temples are being used for political meetings where supporters of the JO are brought in their droves to lustily cheer Mahinda Rajapaksa in full flight. Minister Rajapakshe should put to an end to the practise of temple premises being used for political gatherings. It is no secret that, some, if not all, of these monks are on the payroll of the Rajapaksas and would not hesitate to act in a manner that even harm the sanctity of the religion they have vowed to uphold.

Sri Lanka is perhaps the only country where its clergy gets actively involved in politics that is the antithesis to Buddhism, particularly the kind of politics practised in this country. Both major parties are guilty of engaging Buddhist monks to boost the electoral fortunes of their parties. It has to be said though that the involvement of Buddhist clergy in politics in this country is not a recent phenomenon. Buddhist monks formed one of the tiers of the pancha maha balavegaya that brought Bandaranaike to power. There were radicalized monks even at that time and a sizable segment of monks were involved in the 1971 JVP uprising. However, the hostility and hatred that we see today among a section of the Bikkhu community is no doubt a novel experience and would not synchronize with the teachings of the compassionate one.

Some Bikkhus today make rabid nationalist comments and express virulent anti-minority sentiments, quite at variance with the Buddha's teachings that centres on love and kindness to all, shunning differences based on race, caste and creed. True, the Buddhist clergy has a right and duty to take a stand and express their views when rulers take decisions that may imperil the country. History too records instances where Bikkhus came to the forefront to protect the nation when under threat. But what is observed here is monks directly engaging in politics and in the process sowing hatred, causing division among the communities and raising communal tensions. One recalls reading about a monk notorious for his violent anti-minority tirades leading the mob, with petrol can in hand, to set fire to Tamil shops during the Black July rampage. No wonder the Bikkhus supporting the JO has taken the cue to make racists comments.

Be that as it may, the decision by the Minister to even use the Prevention of Terrorism Act to curb the activities of extremist groups which also includes Buddhist monks, as stated by him, is indeed timely and would be welcomed by all genuine Buddhists in this country. It is paradoxical indeed that Buddhism which essentially preaches non-violence is being distorted by the acts of some of our Bikkhus who are beholden to uphold the vinaya rules. The sight of Buddhist monks, in the company of protesting mobs, breaking down iron barriers, being tear gassed and running amok on the roads is certainly not what Buddhists of this country wishes to see of their Bikkhus. Nor, Bikkhus conducting raids on government institutions and ministries in search of a Bikkhu colleague, to cause harm to the latter.

The Minister, while putting the brakes on rampaging Buddhist monks should also take action to put a halt to hate speech by certain Bikkhus that arouse communal passions. Ideally the media should not give coverage to such hate speech. Already incendiary speeches are being made by some monks on the new constitution to the effect that the country was on the threshold of being divided. This, despite the allaying of fears in this regard by the Mahanayake. It is hoped that some sanity will prevail at least now, with the Minister reading the riot act, and Bikkhus will conduct themselves in exemplary fashion that befits honour and sanctity of the saffron robe.

The Island Editorial

Assassinations and coups

21 November 2016

 

UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila stirred up a hornets’ nest in Parliament on Saturday. Venting his spleen on the government as is his wont, he gave President Maithripala Sirisena some gratuitous advice. The former urged the latter to be wary of ‘friends’ who acted like the proverbial monkey which killed its royal master by striking a fly on him with his own sword. This analogy raised Minister Vijithamuni Zoysa’s hackles, which are, anyway, waiting for the slighted provocation to rise. Zoysa claimed that such monkeys were responsible for the downfall of President Mahinda Rajapaksa last year.

Spicing up his speech with rhetoric, Zoysa went so far as to point out that the founder of the SLFP S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike had died at the hands of some of his close allies. Shedding copious tears for former President Rajapaksa, who, he said, had lost power due to a coterie of cronies, he, however, stopped short of mentioning the fact that the then SLFP General Secretary and Minister Sirisena had defected to contest as the Opposition’s presidential candidate and brought down the Rajapaksa government.

It is popularly said that one may be able to defend oneself against his enemies, but only God can save him from his friends. Politics is a web of intrigue and betrayal as is common knowledge. Man’s greed for power and wealth tends to get the better of him at times of his moral weakness. There is a Macbeth or a Brutus in every politician, especially in this country. Besides, Sri Lanka’s history is replete with numerous instances of parricide and fratricide in times of kings. Betrayal seems to be a genetic factor in Sri Lankans. Even the Indian epic Ramayana tells us that King of Lanka Ravana, who is said to have moved about in a flying machine, was betrayed by his brother Vibishana, who sided with Rama. (One may wonder whether the proponents of ETCA are descendants of Vibishana?)

Historians tell us that King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1458-1490) trusted his dogs more than his palace guards or even his family members. He always had a pack of his pet dogs around him. A philosopher himself, King Matthias must have been au fait with the common human frailties and ambitions which the canines are devoid of; dogs don’t seek to destroy their masters or take bribes or get involved in bond scams, do they?

Minister Zoysa, who knows which side his bread is buttered sought to curry favour with President Sirisena, to whom several political rejects of the SLFP are beholden for their appointment to Parliament and the Cabinet. Zoysa implied, with his reference to the Bandaranaike assassination, that the President, who was present in the House, had to be careful. There were barbs from the ranks of the Joint Opposition (JO) and MP Dinesh Gunawardena stressed that though the JO had political differences with President Sirisena never did it wish to see harm to befall anyone. He, however, went on to warn the government that unless it stopped suppressing the democratic rights of its opponents there might even be a military coup.

Politicians are notorious for seeing more devils than vast hell can hold. We hope and pray that what Gunawardena fears will not come to pass. However, the government leaders must be wary of trifling the military and meddling in its affairs. The recent removal of Head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence Brig. Suresh Salley has left a bad taste in many a mouth. Officers who have made an invaluable contribution to the elimination of terrorism must not be victimised according to the whims and fancies of politicians notorious for their pusillanimity and servility to terrorists. The recent police attack on a protest by disabled military personnel near the Presidential Secretariat has caused the government to incur public opprobirum. One disabled soldier has suffered serious eye injury in the attack.

A formidable Opposition is a prerequisite for democratic wellbeing of a country. A coming together of the major parties consisting of rogues of all sorts for political expediency on the pretext of promoting national unity is fraught with the danger of the public being left with no one to turn to in the case of corruption and abuse of power. Thankfully, the enmity between President Sirisena and his erstwhile boss has led to the emergence of an alternative Opposition. New thieves have undertaken to catch old larcenists and vice versa!

When a democratic Opposition is reduced to a mere appendage of the government or crushed with elections arbitrarily postponed indefinitely, conditions are created for extra-parliamentary forces to emerge powerful at the expense of democracy. What we witnessed in the 1980s is a case in point. Those who do not learn from the past are said to be doomed to repeat it. Absit omen!