By H. Sriyananda –
Prof. H. Sriyananda
Declare April 15th as the National Day in place of 4th February. This will help bring the two main communities in the country together in a common celebration.
All future elections to be held during the month of April, instead of on ad hoc dates decided to suit the government in power. It will also reduce the disruptions in education and other normal activities of the country.
All school and university education to be based on two semesters of sixteen weeks each, with all schools and universities adhering to a common schedule. The first semester starts on the first Monday of July each year. After eight weeks, there shall be a one week break followed by the balance of the first semester, lasting eight weeks. Then there shall be vacation lasting four weeks before the start of the second semester, which will run for a total of seventeen weeks (including the one week break). This will bring us to the middle of March. All examinations, including the examinations for the selection of students for admission to universities, will be conducted during the remaining two weeks of March. This will leave a total of twelve weeks before the start of the next academic year. All scrutiny of answer scripts and other activities for the selection of students shall be completed during this period.
It will also serve as a period specially set apart for major sport and other cultural activities.
Now, on to governance, and elections. The country will be divided into three regions as follows:
Region 1 – South western coastal region.
For the interim period, until the next delimitation, to consist of the present southern, western and north western provinces.
Region 2 – North eastern coastal region.
For the interim period, until the next delimitation, to consist of the present northern and eastern provinces.
Region 3 – Highlands region.
For the interim period, until the next delimitation, to consist of north central, central, Uwa and Sabaragamuwa provinces.
The central government shall be administered by:
A presidential council (supervisory function, with executive functions under emergency conditions (as determined by the lower house of parliament)
A bicameral parliament (legislative function)
A central judiciary (Judicial function)
A central public service (executive function)
The presidential council shall consist of six non-political and eminent members, three elected by the three regions, two by the lower house and one by the upper house. They will elect one of them as the chairman.
The parliament shall consist of the House of representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house)
The lower house shall have 150 members, 120 directly elected on an electoral basis (first past the post), and 30 elected on a proportional basis, but from lists provided by each political party and nationally voted upon by the electorate.
The upper house shall consist of 50 eminent members, ten each elected by each provincial council and twenty elected by the lower house. Both the lower and upper houses can initiate new legislation, but the upper house can only delay any bill only for a period of up to six months after it is accepted by the lower house. As the elections to the lower house and to the regional councils are staggered (see below), the upper house is intended to provide for changes in public opinion between two general elections, and to moderate hasty actions that can be detrimental to the country.
As stated at the beginning of this note, all elections are held in the month of April. If a general election is held in year zero, local government elections will be held in year 1 and regional council elections will be held in year 2. Year 3 is set apart for the work of a delimitation commission. Year 4 will see new elections to parliament. All elected bodies will have a validity for four years. (Transition arrangements will have to be worked out)
The central government will be responsible for the administration of justice at the appellate court level.
The public service will be governed by a Public service commission. All public service appointments, right up to the cabinet and ministry secretaries, shall be based on merit and seniority, in that order. All public servants will address members of the public as Sir/madam, and sign all communications as ‘I remain, Sir/Madam, your obedient servant’ as it used to be in the past. This will remind them at all times that they are public servants and not servants of the government in power.
There shall be a national police force, consisting of a new retrained and reoriented police force, trained to function as public servants. It will work in cooperation with the regional police forces.
All secondary and tertiary educational institutions will be administered by the central government.
The regional governments will have a much simplified structure with only a lower house, with directly elected members representing each of the electorates within the region. The delimitation commission will attempt to restrict the number of such elected members of each regional council to between 25 and 45 members.
The administration of justice at the level of the courts of the first instance shall be the responsibility of the regional governments.
There shall be a regional police force, which will work in collaboration with the other regional police forces and the central police force.
The regional governments shall be responsible for the primary educational institutions.
The local governments will have directly elected ward level members.
They shall provide all local services such as maintenance of local services such as garbage collection and disposal, nursery education and daycare services, reconciliation boards, etc.
In parallel with the above formal structure, each grama seva niladhari will entertain proposals from the public, either in writing or verbally at periodical assemblies (People’s assemblies) for implementation at any level of government. Such proposals shall be forwarded to the appropriate authorities, through the district secretaries for consideration. This is expected to provide an additional channel for the public to participate in governance on a continuing basis.
Entrenched clauses
1- There has to be an ‘entrenched exclusivity’ clause which restricts any future government, both central and regional, from enacting legislation that either favours or discriminates against any section of the citizens on grounds of race, ethnicity, gender, religious or political beliefs, and place of residence.
2- No government (central or regional) can dispose of or lease for a period exceeding eight years (two terms of an elected government) any natural resource belonging to the general public such as land, water, air and mineral resources to any foreign individual, government or corporate body.
*H. Sriyananda, Emeritus Professor – Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Technology – The Open University of Sri Lanka
Naman / January 11, 2024
Like in Australia,we in SL could have 4 or 5 Federal states. N&E; Southern;Central; Western NorthCentral
Police and Land powers should be with the Federal Governments.
SL will be secular with no clergies involvement
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SJ / January 11, 2024
Why not 50 like the USA?
Federation happens under specific historical conditions.
While what is badly needed is devolution of power there is no will for it.
So what will federation achieve? After seeing how the NPC performed people have grave doubts about Provincial Councils themselves.
There are no copycat solutions to national issues. We needs to start with recognition of the core issues. Some work is needed at grassroots to overcome unhealthy inhibitions and irrational fears.
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Ruchira / January 11, 2024
SJ – Thank you for that comment. Good to see that there are some sane voices among, a lot of what may amount, to cacophony!
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Lester / January 11, 2024
“The country will be divided into three regions as follows:”
If you do that, you will have one region governed by Roman law, another by Thesavalamai law, and a third by Sharia law. When you say, “the administration of justice at the level of the courts of the first instance shall be the responsibility of the regional governments”, then the actual application of the law at the regional level would be in accordance with one of the above three. The Supreme Court could overrule, but that would require a lengthy and time-consuming legal process. The concern with having three different legal systems is whether all citizens enjoy the same protections and safeguards.
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Lasantha Pethiyagoda / January 12, 2024
These are utopian dreams when no one in the administration wants to really change anything, because that will mean a threat to their parasitic existence. Instead, the first priority of the people should be to become one common entity that seeks to challenge the two political party power-sharing arrangement that saw the pendulum swing either way, every five years. Those rascals who feed off the system must also be shown the door. It is imperative that a truly committed, grassroots level movement of educated young people be given the reins to administer a fair and just system. The rotten-to-the-core scumbags that together ruined the country must be given their just desserts at the earliest opportunity.
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Ajith / January 12, 2024
It is a reasonably agreeable proposal with some modification in theory. The problem is that the barriers are huge and making changes to the existing system, culture and attitude of the political and religious masters are very difficult. This is because they are powerful in influencing the peoples decision. They built up this culture and attitude for the past 75 years with replicated lies over lies.
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PD / January 13, 2024
Thank you Prof Sriyananda for your kind thoughts on administrative and governance reforms.
Barring the naysayers, this is the type of thinking along the lines of ‘daring to dream’ that many non-partisan observers expected during and consequent to the 2022 uprising of our people that seemed, at least initially, to be spontaneous, undirected and not organised by any known or identifiable formal political party.
In fact, it was refreshing to note a contributor to LEN asking Tilvin of the JVP NOT to resort to madness (Pissu kelinna epā, tilvin), when it was rumoured that a JVP rally commencing in Kalutara or Panadura was approaching Colombo to join up with the GF gathering!
Upto the point of the participation of academics, artists, former senior members of state law and the private bar, professionals, tradespersons and ordinary citizens and returnees from overseas etc it was a beautiful sight to behold in the spirit of the words of Rev Senior, ‘Rise, child of Lanka, and answer, thy mother hath called to thee.’
The events 9/5/22, sad as they were, were demonstrative of where politics and politicians had taken the country and its masses in several decades.
The patchwork peace and order that the present president has been instrumental in maintaining does not really allow any further analysis of where the people’s sentiments truly lie.
cont..
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PD / January 13, 2024
There is one redeeming feature of contemporary Lanka which many would yet be unaware of, and, that is the yeoman service that the most Ven. Meewanapalane SiriDhammalankara has rendered to set straight the pristine teachings of the Buddha, in contradistinction to the religion that evolved from 8 or 9 centuries after the Buddha.
The Buddha dhamma so reiterated has no place for bigotry and chauvinism, and today, as then, there will only be a minuscule of those who would truly realise that the Buddha only shows a path to liberation for those who ascribe to that, and a way for others to live righteously to be good and wholesome in their ways and how they interact with their fellows.
This also highlights how the good and the wholesome of a few can send and spread good vibes for the benefit of a multitude!
This is pointed out only to emphasise that the time is ripe for some goodness to emerge in our political firmament too.
Prof Sriyanada, thank you, again, for expressing what you see as benevolent to reestablish good governance and an efficient and upright administration and may others follow in daring to dream and make your dreams known as to how one likes to see this beautiful nation coming together to live in peace and harmony…
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PD / January 13, 2024
One cannot even say if an election would really bring that out! Such is the disillusionment that many seem to have with decades of political bungling.
With no compulsory voting requirement in place, it further confounds any announced outcome as to its authenticity of true representation of a people’s desire.
A large part of what has contributed to the general sense of an mis governed nation lies in myopic ethnocentric posturings.
Prof Sriyananda’s reference to the ideal entrenched clauses being representative of the spirit of section 29 of the independence constitution is a telling point where a nation was left helpless by political opportunists who transgressed laws, customs and mores from the 1950s to the present day, through 1981 DDC elections, the ‘black July’ of 1983, election graft of 2005, etc etc.
One wanders if there was possible provision to challenge the governments of 1956 and 1960 in court like the recent SC judgment delivered against prominent politicians and their sycophantic administrators, against the National language bill and the nationalisation of economic entities that were sterling companies!
What of the nationalisation of schools? Did it in anyway approximate the true ideals that the good people who came to serve the nation post Donoughmore constitution envisage for the nation? We have read of how destitute the late Hon CWW Kannangara was in the evening of his life!
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