{"id":67917,"date":"2013-01-05T20:37:13","date_gmt":"2013-01-05T20:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=67917"},"modified":"2013-01-12T22:11:19","modified_gmt":"2013-01-12T22:11:19","slug":"so-you-want-anarchy-do-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/so-you-want-anarchy-do-you\/","title":{"rendered":"So You Want Anarchy, Do You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

The 1978 Constitution<\/a><\/span> is not made for dictators, contrary to an oft-articulated view.\u00a0 It is rather made to make dictators in that it confers on the executive near dictatorial power.\u00a0 The objections however have focused more on incumbent than position or constitutional provision.<\/p>\n

The constitutional document is of course referred to but mostly to acquire the \u2018objective\u2019 tag or as make-up to disguise political preference.\u00a0 In the main it has been about likes and dislikes.\u00a0 Virtues of democracy and the need to have it affirmed in word and spirit are trotted out.\u00a0 It\u2019s part of the political game to appear neutral but political preferences are hard to hide in this day and age.<\/p>\n

A good rule of thumb when assessing the democratic worth of constitutions and articles therein is to image a beneficiary whose ability and integrity one questions, someone whose ideological bent and politics one abhors. This is the device I suggested that MPs voting on the 18th<\/sup> Amendment<\/a><\/span> should use.<\/p>\n

If we assume for argument\u2019s sake that democracy is the best system of governance, the 1978 Constitution is a body blow to the idea.\u00a0 If one wants Sri Lanka to be a better democracy, then a complete overhauling of the constitution is called for.\u00a0 Easier said than done of course for it requires a two-thirds majority which is what is enjoyed by the current set of beneficiaries.\u00a0 It would be myopic to expect them to vote against their interest. On the other hand those who aspire to obtain the same sweeping executive powers would hardly be interested in voting to prune these very same powers they hope to someday enjoy. This is perhaps why the focus is on person and not post and why the rhetoric seems hollow.<\/p>\n

In this context it is natural to think that knocking off the slightest shard off the executive armor is a necessary step in a \u2018democratizing\u2019 process.\u00a0 The error is that what incumbent loses does not materialize as a corresponding loss in constitutional provision.\u00a0 J.R. Jayewardene<\/a><\/span> was declared a tyrant.\u00a0 Few were sorry to see him go at the end of his two terms.\u00a0 When he was replaced, Premadasa<\/a><\/span> inherited the powers as did Wijetunga, Kumaratunga<\/a><\/span> and Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span> after him.\u00a0 The losses that accrued to the individual on account of error, ignorance and arrogance, they took to grave and retirement. Successors started afresh.<\/p>\n

Attacking the President is easy.\u00a0 Taking issue with position is also easy.\u00a0 Arguing that the incumbent being ousted is \u2018first step\u2019 is hogwash.\u00a0 Belief that a presidential back-off would amount to dent in constitutional provision is patently na\u00efve.<\/p>\n

Today there\u2019s a stand-off of sorts, some would like us to think: Supreme Court vs. Parliament, Judiciary vs. Legislative.\u00a0\u00a0 Two process: Impeachment against the Chief Justice<\/a><\/span> and Court Ruling against Parliamentary Select Committee.\u00a0 Some have called for a change of laws pertaining to impeaching judges of the higher courts.\u00a0 Some have called for prorogation of Parliament \u2018to cool things a bit\u2019.\u00a0 The \u2018callers\u2019 claim it is all about the independence of the judiciary. Some add that it is a democratizing move.\u00a0 The objection raised by some ministers to moves against the Chief Justice (at least in terms of the impeachment process) have been cheered by the above \u2018callers\u2019, notwithstanding the fact that some of these ministers are not exactly \u2018people\u2019s representatives\u2019 in that they are in Parliament courtesy the President\u2019s largesse.\u00a0 Bold of them, yes, but the fact that they don\u2019t have a constituency to speak of should not be forgotten.<\/p>\n

More telling is the identity of the callers.\u00a0 They are not political neutrals.\u00a0 They are regime-haters and as such their democratizing credentials are suspect.\u00a0\u00a0 Whipping up notions of \u2018confusion\u2019 and \u2018tension\u2019 even as they call for an executive\/legislative \u2018back-off\u2019 alone shows much humbuggery.<\/p>\n

It is not a matter of picking between Mahinda Rajapaksa and Mr\/Ms Perfect President.\u00a0 The choice is not between Rajapaksa and A Better Order in the Foreseeable Future.\u00a0 The choice is not between Executive Presidency and Westminster System (with or without some adjustment). For such choices, there have to be objective conditions such as severe economic, social, political discontent across the board.\u00a0 There are people who are not exactly cheering this regime, but neither are they inclined to cheer anarchy.\u00a0 The courts are not people-friendly, in fact that are places where the masses feel utterly displaced and disoriented.\u00a0 Lawyers are seen as evil necessities by those who for whatever reason are forced to be in court.\u00a0 Shirani Bandaranayake is not a Sarath Fonseka in this sense.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those who try to market her as the figurehead of moves at changing regime and democratizing probably assume she\u2019s na\u00efve, which is of course a possibility that cannot be ruled out.\u00a0 Worse, they assume that their political records are unknown.\u00a0 It\u2019s a straw-clutching exercise of the politically dispossessed and displaced privileged class that we have seen before, with Sarath Fonseka<\/a><\/span> and before him Sarath N Silva<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 No surprises therefore.<\/p>\n

Only those whose lives and lifestyles are insured can wave hand at anarchy.\u00a0 Such situations are made for blood-letting, but the blood that could flow will not be theirs, but that of ordinary people.\u00a0 If it is a matter of a Constitutional Dictatorship versus Anarchy where a result in the favor of the latter (unlikely as things stand) spawns yet another Constitutional Dictator, the intelligent and responsible choice would be the former.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation<\/a>\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a>\u00a0.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":44732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,2938],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-editorial","category-popular"],"yoast_head":"\nSo You Want Anarchy, Do You? - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/so-you-want-anarchy-do-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"So You Want Anarchy, Do You? - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/so-you-want-anarchy-do-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-05T20:37:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-12T22:11:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Malinda.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"336\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"413\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/so-you-want-anarchy-do-you\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/so-you-want-anarchy-do-you\/\",\"name\":\"So You Want Anarchy, Do You? 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