A NEW CONSTITUTION TO END CONFRONTATIONAL POLITICS!!!

A new Constitution to end confrontational politics.........by K Godage

A ‘Discussion’ on ‘Inner Party Democracy’ organized last week by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung was most significantly attended by two young members of Parliament of the UNP. In recent times, these two MPs have been steadfastly seeking to introduce democracy to the Grand Old Party. The initiative of these two MPs brought into focus a matter of grave concern in the political fabric of this country.

It has been long conceded that when a political party comes to power at an election it is the unelected party hierarchy that invariably rules the country from behind the scene. It is also a fact that the Party’s Central Committee nominates the leader of the Party, who in turn decides on filling of vacancies in the CC and packs the CC with his or her cronies to retain control over the Party and more importantly, its ‘treasure chest’, which invariably runs into millions. This is how Party leaders perpetuate their power. The herd mentality of Party cadres is exploited by the leadership (which in fact holds them in contempt) and they have no say whatsoever in the management of the Party. It is certainly time for Political Parties which claim to be committed to Democracy to be required statutorily to practice what they preach within their Parties.

At the Fredrich Ebert Stiftung meeting a ‘Preliminary report’ (nevertheless a most valuable one) on Intra-Party Democracy prepared by a research team led by Shiral Lakthileka was presented. It afforded an opportunity for a discussion on ‘Democracy’ as is practiced in this country.

The compelling view was that what passes for Democracy in this country is a mere shell of the real thing. The kernel has been removed by our politicians over the years. The political culture of this country has been built on adversarial, confrontational politics without regard to the national interest. It is indeed a fact that our politicians have missed the wood for the trees. This is the unfortunate tradition which they seem to want to perpetuate. The glue that holds this form of confrontational politics together has been, the vulgar pursuit of political power, for with it is the opportunity to climb the gravy train and get rich quickly. In the process have we not become a morally degenerate society?

Can anyone deny that?

Politics in this country is today a blood sport governed by the rules of the slum. These rules are rooted in the criminal underworld where the scum of our society have become a dominant force. Politicians were for some years the patrons of the scum, but the wheel appears to have turned. Today, the scum from the slums, with their pernicious values, have begun to lord it over the politicians. Some have even become politicians. Sadly, poachers have turned gamekeepers, and we citizens are the victims.

To do nothing is no longer an option. It is the moral obligation of this generation of citizens of this country to ensure that the next generation will not inherit this corrupt political system, There is a feeling amongst many that "that we should NOT get involved in politics". Perish the thought for Politics does matter in our everyday life. Every segment of our society, leaders of religious groups and the Mahanayakes in particular, business leaders, Trade Unions, organized Civil Society, Public Servants including teachers, social service organizations, organizations of retired Service Officers, Professional organizations, Rotary and the Lions Clubs should take their civic responsibilities seriously. They must come forward to mobilize the people and usher in a non-violent, peaceful revolution to save our country and make it a better place for the generations to come.

Now is the time to demand that a Constituent Assembly be established to draft a new Constitution.

After 60 years and three Constitutions the sad truth is that we have, as a country, regressed and not progressed in almost every sphere of human endeavour. The country has been torn apart by the so-called system of Cabinet government that the British imposed upon us perhaps with the best of intentions. We have even corrupted that system, removed the entrenched safeguards for minorities, made a caricature of the electoral process, and from 1978 established a constitutional dictatorship. None of the four Presidents who succeeded President JR Jayewardene, who was the architect of the abominable system, have sought to change it. We the people must mount a campaign to change the constitution.

Those in high places who keep repeatedly alluding to the notion that 74% of our population is Sinhalese need to admit that we are not a homogenous entity, being divided on the basis of caste, religion, ‘Up Country’ and ‘Low Country’ Sinhalese and last but not least by politics and wealth or class.

It cannot also be denied that we are a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, plural society. We are indeed a fragmented polity. We may be multi ethnic and multi-religious but we are one nation. In the lyrics of a contemporary song "This land belongs to you, this land belongs to me, this land belongs to all of us to live in harmony".

Sharing power has become the critical path to manage a society nay a country, which is pluralistic and heterogeneous such as ours. The majoritarian form of democracy is what we have practiced in this country (is it not contradictory? for ‘majoritarianism’cannot be democratic). This system does not provide for decision making by consensus. This is where we have fallen short. If, on the other hand, we share power that implies that whatever segment with whom power is shared, will have a significant say in decision making and with it a sense of belonging. This was the essence of the Donoughmore Constitution.

The Donoughmore system was more suited to the culture of our people than this system of Cabinet government, which incidentally had evolved in Britain over a long period of time.

The Soulsbury Commission did not take account of our experience over 16 years with the Donoughmore system; they threw the baby out with the bath water and foisted on us a system of adversarial politics, which has been the bane of this country over the past 60 years. Unlike the Soulsbury Commission, the Donoughmore Commission had spent months meting people of all strata and studying the situation in the country. It was the Donoughmore Commission that recommended universal suffrage, which was quite a revolutionary initiative, and the establishment of the Executive Committee system.


In this arrangement, members of the State Council regardless of their political party, shared in the executive function of government and thus avoided bitterness. They were all involved in administration too.

This is important considering the nexus between the politician and the people. In this country, the people, particularly in the rural areas, take all their problems to the MP. We need also to change the present electoral system so that Government would be brought close to the people and the elected representatives of the people would be far more sensitive to the needs and demands of the people. Under the Donoughmore Constitution governance in those 16 years became a collective effort and the responsibility of all those who had been elected.

The curse of this country has been communal politics. It was anticipated that with the Donoughmore Constitution ending communal representation and introducing territorial representation, communal politics would not prevail any longer. Most unfortunately communal politics continues to be the bane of our country. Universal Suffrage which was also introduced by the Donoughmore constitution has quite naturally given the Sinhala majority numerical dominance over the minorities. The result unfortunately is that ‘national interest’ was seen as being synonymous with the welfare of the majority. It is hoped that the Executive Committee system would provide the answer to this problem and make the minorities equal stakeholders in our country. The principle of equality must be enshrined in the Constitution. This is imperative. This would no doubt help to ensure that the concept of ‘patriotism’ is not racial but national.

In recent years we have seen Ministers Professor GL Peiris, Karu Jayasuriya and Dinesh Gunawardena all advocate the restoration of the Donoughmore system and the sharing of executive power not only at national level but at the local level, from the Provincial Council down to the Municipal Council and the Urban Council. I recall that Professor Peiris very lucidly spelt out the advantages that would accrue from the adoption of the Executive Committee system.

I do hope that these three influential Ministers would, in the national interest, revive this initiative, for this system is very much in keeping with our cultural heritage and is absolute necessary considering the conditions that presently exist in our country.

We need to deal with the sense of alienation which has engulfed the minorities in this country. They feel they do not belong here. We MUST restore their confidence and sense of belonging and with it, the organic character of our society. We must focus on our common humanity. This feeling of being alienated could be remedied only by bringing the minorities into the mainstream. If for a start the system is introduced in the Eastern Province Provincial Council it would most immediately help diffuse the explosive situation that exists there which outside elements could exploit to the country’s detriment.


I do hope this plea for the establishment of a Constituent Assembly would find support among political parties, all social and religious groups and ‘Civil Society’ in our country.

K Godage
(godagek@yahoo.com)

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