{"id":158707,"date":"2016-03-06T12:54:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-06T07:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=158707"},"modified":"2016-03-10T12:53:31","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T07:23:31","slug":"national-question-can-be-solved-only-by-power-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/national-question-can-be-solved-only-by-power-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"National Question Can Be Solved Only By Power Sharing"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Veluppillai Thangavelu<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Veluppillai<\/a>

Veluppillai Thangavelu<\/p><\/div>\n

On January 25 this year Opposition and Thamil National Alliance (TNA) Leader R. Sampanthan left for London and then to the Scottish capital Edinburgh accompanied by\u00a0his\u00a0trusted lieutenant Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran, MP. Sampanthan\u2019s\u00a0visit to Scotland\u00a0coincided with\u00a0the\u00a0government\u00a0taking steps to\u00a0draft a new Constitution.<\/p>\n

Scottish experience<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both Sampanthan and Sumanthiran\u00a0participated at a constitutional workshop held to explore possible alternatives for political solution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka. It was held under the patronage of academics affiliated to Edinburgh University, with lessons to be learnt from Scottish experience in the United Kingdom and to study the devolution of power sharing by Scotland under Britain’s Westminster system.<\/p>\n

Many mistakenly believe that Scotland is sharing power with United Kingdom (UK)\u00a0under a federal system.\u00a0 The constitution of UK is not federal but unitary. Scotland is a good example of\u00a0 country that enjoys devolved powers within a ‘unitary’ constitution.\u00a0 In fact, unlike many other countries, the UK has no single constitutional document, it has an unmodified or “unwritten” constitution. Much of the British constitution is embodied in written documents, in statutes, court judgments, works of authority and treaties. The core principles of the British constitution are (1) parliamentary supremacy, and (2) rule of law.<\/p>\n

The UK comprises four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, it is a unitary state, not a federation (like Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Russia or the United States), nor a confederation (like pre-1847 Switzerland, the former Serbia and Montenegro or Canada).<\/p>\n

Although Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have legislatures and executives, England does not. The authority of all these bodies is dependent on Acts of Parliament and that they can in principle be abolished at the will of the Parliament of the UK. An\u00a0example of a legislature that was created by Act of Parliament and later abolished is the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which was set up by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and abolished, in response to political violence in Northern Ireland. However, Northern Ireland has since been given another legislative assembly under the Northern Ireland Act 1998.<\/p>\n

Difference between Federal and Unitary<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the difference between federal and unitary system of government? Government system of a country can be classified into two types of government. Either it can be a federal government or can be a unitary government.<\/p>\n

Federal Government\u2028\u2028:<\/em> Federal government is a type of national government in which government delegates the power to other elected member of the states. In a federal government, provinces or territories enjoys some rights as are available to the independent states. However international diplomacy, national security, foreign affairs and other kinds of international dealings are solely made by the federal government. It can be in form of federal republic like India, Pakistan or federal monarchy government as Canada or Belgium. Currently there are 27 federations in the world. Pakistan, India, Brazil, Switzerland, Sudan, etc. are examples of federal republic government while Australia, Belgium, Canada, etc, are examples of federal monarchy government.<\/p>\n

\u2028\u2028Unitary Government:<\/em> \u2028\u2028Unitary government is a kind of government in which a single power\u00a0known as the central government controls the whole government. In fact, all powers and administrative divisions authorities lies at the central place. When a unitary system exists in a multinational state, it is often predictable that values and beliefs of one nationality are imposed over the lesser ones. Today, most of the government system in the world is based on unitary system of government\u00a0where the central government has the power. Even if certain powers of the centre are decentralised, the centre can create and abolish\u00a0same at its will. It can be in form of unitary republic or unitary monarchy. UK, Afghanistan, Italy, Zambia Ukraine, Sri Lanka etc. are examples of unitary republic government while Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Barbados, Morocco, Spain, etc are examples of unitary monarchy government.<\/p>\n

Kingdom Scotland<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent sovereign state from the Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. Scotland entered into a political union with England on May 1, 1707 to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, despite popular opposition in Edinburgh, Glasgow and elsewhere. The union also created a Parliament of Great Britain which succeeded Parliament of Scotland and Parliament of England.<\/p>\n

Scotland’s legal system has remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in public and private law. The continued existence of legal, educational and religious institutions distinct from those in the remainder of the UK have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity since the 1707 union. Following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament\u00a0was re-established, this time as a devolved legislature with authority over many areas of home affairs.<\/p>\n

Despite Scotland’s three century-old union with England\u00a0and\u00a0the devolution of substantial new powers\u00a0for the Scottish\u00a0Parliament, the Scottish National Party (SNP) supports Scottish independence. At the general election\u00a0to the Scottish parliament\u00a0held on May 05, 2011 to elect 129 members, the SNP won a\u00a0historic 69 seats (45.39% of the popular vote) and its leader\u00a0Alex Salmond\u00a0remained First Minister of Scotland. Following the defeat at the referendum he resigned his post. Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party (SNP) is the current First Minister of Scotland.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0the independence referendum held on September 18, 2014 was lost by the yes side\u00a0by a majority of 55% to 45% on an 85% voter turnout. Surprisingly the majority of\u00a0Scots\u00a0thought that they can have the best of\u00a0both worlds\u00a0by remaining in the union, rather\u00a0than benefit from a friendly divorce.<\/p>\n

Though\u00a0Scotland lost the fight for independence, it\u00a0gained huge power\u00a0to set income tax rates, some influence over welfare spending, and powers to decide how the Scottish parliament and other devolved political structures are selected and run. These powers are a\u00a0step towards a federal Britain, and\u00a0likely put Scotland on the road to autonomy akin to that enjoyed by an American state. In a unitary political system like Britain, it will cause mighty constitutional problems, which will have to be worked out by all three major parties which have taken a common stand. The powers now enjoyed by Westminster and\u00a0Scottish parliament are as follows:<\/p>\n