{"id":117528,"date":"2013-12-28T13:31:19","date_gmt":"2013-12-28T08:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=117528"},"modified":"2014-01-03T15:34:32","modified_gmt":"2014-01-03T10:04:32","slug":"a-political-alternative-for-new-year-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-political-alternative-for-new-year-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"A Political Alternative For New Year 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kusal Perera<\/span><\/a> –<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Kusal<\/a>

Kusal Perara<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s there to talk about 2013 ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The only good thing is, in about 80 hours from now \u2013 mid day 28 December \u2013 this year would be over. There’s nothing nostalgic about it, except in personal and private terms. Politically, much expected Northern Provincial Council elections<\/span><\/a> and the much favoured electoral victory for the TNA seems no exceptional achievement in post Northern and Tamil politics. For the Southerner, casinos have been decided upon and is being half heartedly protested by \u201cpuritans\u201d. None is asking what benefit would they have for the poor and the deprived. What social equity and what contribution to rural development, is not what is asked about. There are also NO Anna Hazares, NO Kejriwals, NO Aam Admi Parties, but a popular, Sinhala President there is, sans an opposition. There is ever growing massive corruption, fraud and extortion, shipping, transshipping and peddling of drugs reported almost every day, battalions of saffron clad rogue clerics allowed free roaming, Tsunamis of murder, rape, sexual assaults, child abuse cracking all indexes of failed and falling States and also a much feared and revered Defence and Urban Development ministry Secretary sitting tough, under whom the police and civil security is, since 2005 December.<\/p>\n

The year also ends with the UNP Convention, its 55th<\/sup> since it was formed. Undemocratic as it exhibits itself to be and the convention presided over by a leader who sounded more a school’s principal sitting over a Monday morning assembly, passed four resolutions that again was mere tradition and nothing more. The first resolution says the party would work towards victory at the next elections headed by the new leadership council. Wonder why an opposition party has to pass an unanimous resolution to say it would work towards electoral victory. That’s what it obviously has to do.<\/p>\n

The second resolution promises the party would abolish the Executive Presidency<\/span><\/a>. Abolishing the presidency would take us back to a parliamentary system. We have had two parliamentary systems, with and without an upper house during the first 30 years after independence, under two different Constitutions; the Soulburry and the first Republican Constitution. The Soulburry constitution allowed for total disfranchising of Indian origin Tamils, making them stateless and then allowed the whole State to be \u201cSinhalised\u201d with Sinhala language made the ONLY official language of the country. That parliament could not safeguard the right of minorities, nor could it arrest the decline in social life leading to a political crisis that paved for the first Southern Sinhala armed uprising to catalyse in late 1960s.\u00a0 The first Southern Sinhala armed insurrection broke loose in 1971, just a year ahead of the change in Constitution.<\/p>\n

The first Republican Constitution ushered in thereafter in 1972 stressing the importance of being wholly independent and neutral from the British crown, allowed for politicisation of the State with the PSC brought under cabinet authority. Buddhism was written in as a very special religion to be treated exclusively under the Constitution. That parliament allowed for continuous rule under Emergency regulations that even allowed for very strict enforcement of food rationing in a tightly closed State controlled economy.<\/p>\n

Performance of all governments during these first 30 years within a parliamentary system was inefficient, dismal and off the mark where curbing of rights and socio economic development was the unwritten norm. Therefore abolishing of the Executive Presidency per se <\/i>to get back to an undefined parliamentary system is no answer. What if the Executive Presidency is instead curbed and its immunity removed, I may ask.<\/p>\n

Third resolution calls for end to corruption and reducing of cost of living. Is the UNP calling on this Rajapaksa regime<\/span><\/a> to honour this resolution on \u201ccorruption and CoL\u201d ? There can be nothing more insane than that. That resolution would have had some meaning if it was a pledge instead to form a government sans corruption and fraud and would reduce CoL. The fourth resolves to work \u201ccollectively\u201d to form a people friendly government. That seems the only valid resolution at the UNP convention for a party that had over the past decade showed, it has no collective political decision making and no collective campaigning on a single political platform.<\/p>\n

This therefore ends where it began and explains why within the UNP, there are factional perspectives, each searching once again for a presidential candidate, \u201ccommon\u201d to them. End of the day, no lessons learnt, we are going to be told, never mind the promises doled out its \u201ca face with a name\u201d we would have to choose, to vote against a regime that is far outdated and far too toxic to live with. The promise for abolishing of the executive presidency within just 06 months is now 19 years old. Win or loose, others who followed also promised same, but we continue to live under an executive presidential rule, a dead weight to carry along that once again prompts change. But on what programme ?<\/p>\n

It is therefore time to leave these worn out faces and corroded names as \u201ccommon candidate\u201d aside. The only thing common in them is their willingness to swim with the Sinhala tide and carry the promises over to another election. The end of year 2013 and the 65th<\/sup> independence celebrations round the corner, it makes sense to start talking in terms of a clear socio political programme to gain long robbed prosperity. Perhaps 2014 is a good year to begin such dialogue at the end of which, the opposition in particular could be demanded to adopt same, IF they wish to have people vote for them in a country that had been voting since 1931 and literacy had increased to well over 93%, but votes rejected at parliamentary elections had increased from 03.8 percent in 1994 to 5.09 percent in 2010, in the Colombo district itself.<\/p>\n

IF that is any indication the people are loosing faith in parliamentary democracy, it also says the people are fed up with all political parties that come with empty calls for change packed with low grade entertainment to entice the voter. It is therefore time to be serious in politics and talk of political programmes for socio economic development, for establishing a functional democracy and genuine promise of a future for ALL. This draft programme therefore identifies the following 04 major areas as the most nationally important areas for political intervention in fairness to all citizens.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Executive power and the independence of the legislature<\/li>\n
  2. Tamil political demands that include power devolution<\/li>\n
  3. Demilitarisation of whole society, including the economy<\/li>\n
  4. National and rural economy that lay stress on education, health, public transport and local environment<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Draft for dialogue, critiquing and improvement<\/b><\/p>\n

    01. Executive power and the independence of the legislature<\/b><\/p>\n

    The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) proposed by President Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> that included the JHU, the MEP and the SLFP has unanimously agreed on a proposal that allows for a total new structure in governance in three tiers. This could form the basis of the proposal for the future State reforms on a new Constitution. In brief it would be,<\/p>\n

    01. Parliamentary form of government at the centre with powers of the people shared at three tiers of the government, namely the Central Government, Provincial Government and Local\u00a0Government. A snapshot of the system would show the following,<\/p>\n