The My-Way Option for 20A

23 June 2015 03:05 am - 0 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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The 20th Amendment is in trouble. The 19th was also facing obstacles, one might recall. It is not easy to amend this constitution, need we remind ourselves?

When the 19th came up we saw a lot of one upmanship. We saw gamesmanship too. There were threats issued. There was tinkering with the draft to suit party interests. It was eventually passed.

Is it the same with the 20th? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

The proposed 20th Amendment is being discussed in the midst of two key no-confidence motions, one against the Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake and the other against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Naturally, the UNP elements of this ‘national’ government are upset. Such a motion may have its merits and demerits but there’s obviously a sense that it has less to do with lack of confidence than with its potential as leverage to secure political gain.
President Maithripala Sirisena and his backers in the party can argue that the so-called Mahinda-faction of the SLFP pushing the motion is essentially trying to force him, Sirisena, to dissolve. ‘Forced’ because it has helped Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe put pressure on the President citing ‘ungovernability’. Clearly, in an election held under the current PR system, even if they contested separately, the Mahinda-faction could gain more than they might in a first-past-the-post system. Naturally, the UNP would also benefit.

The UNP, in addition to demanding dissolution, has tossed another argument into the debate. Citing the many revisions to the original draft of the 19th, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has said that the party would not tolerate the withdrawal of clauses as it occurred in the earlier instance.

It is a situation where everyone can point fingers at everyone else. One can say ‘this clause is wrong’ and the other can say ‘removal of that clause is wrong’. One can say ‘pinch us (with no-confidence motions) and we will not play ball’ and another can say ‘if you can’t win our confidence, then there’s nothing wrong in employing available mechanisms to get the fact recorded’.

In short, even as all parties and political commentators extensively use words and terms such as democracy, good governance, true representation, fidelity to mandate and so on, they are prompted by narrow political interests and envisage starkly different political outcomes.

The only thing that’s clear at this point is that if the 20th is not passed by this Parliament, chances of a future Parliament doing the needful would be very much slimmer. The behaviour of all actors is patently disgusting in the matter of correcting a horrendously flawed electoral system. What is worrisome is that all these people can afford to play cheap politics and get away with it.

One man cannot. President Maithripala Sirisena. The others can play ‘My way or the highway,’ push for dissolution and feel confident that the chips will fall in their favour on election day. Even if they don’t, they can shelve public disappointment by pointing fingers. President Sirisena cannot. He will find that regardless of the executive powers still vested in the presidency post-19th, the office and its occupant will suffer a massive blow to legitimacy if the 20th is scuttled. Whoever scuttles it, for whatever reason, one must add.

Ironically, even given the 19th, there’s only one ‘My Way’ that can be made to count. Maithripala Sirisena’s ‘my way’. He can, if he wants to, act as though his way is that of someone else’s ‘my way’ but it won’t fool anyone if the 20th is sacrificed on the altar of petty political expedience.

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The My-Way Option for 20A

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