Man makes mistakes; a noble man admits them

The President says “I am not a dictator.” From this statement we presume that he has no intention whatsoever of becoming one either. This comforting news is for the people who have in recent months questioned as to why the 18th Amendment was introduced if it was not to arrogate power to the Executive Presidency at the expense of the Legislative and Judicial arms of government. Be that as it may, those who have known the President and watched his political climb would agree that he is much too genial and far too accommodating and has not the mindset of a dictator. He knows the lessons of history and of the Stalins and the Dictators of recent years such as Gaddafi and Mubarak – and would never wish his name to be associated with the likes of them, though Gaddafi was considered a benevolent dictator. Of a different mould was Hugo Chaves – the President would without doubt treat him as a role model.

The President would no doubt have learned lessons from these past ten years as President and of course even before that as an MP, Minister and Prime Minister; he knows that he is revered for having saved this country from separation and in the process saved, no doubt, thousands of lives of both Tamil and Sinhalese youth who are living today, who would have perished had the war continued.

The people now await the peace dividend. In the first instance they await the dawn of true Democracy as we knew it till 1977 when we elected our politicians to rule our country in the same manner as they do in the old Democracies of the world. Today we have a convoluted Electoral system which is a caricature of the old system; with the District as the electorate and no one knows who is really representing him or her in Parliament. The Preferential Vote has led to dissension within Parties and even murder and worst of all it has created unprecedented corruption for it is an accepted fact  that a candidate requires millions to campaign and we all know how this money is raised – all those who contest at every level are beholden and indebted to the underworld. There is no doubt that the people’s first priority should be to  change the electoral system --- and the people cannot understand why the Government and the Opposition are not implementing the Dinesh Gunawardena recommendations which make for a truly democratic system of representation. Associated with this is the matter of all our representatives declaring their assets and that of their families; every candidate MUST hand in his or her Assets Declaration with his or her nomination papers which MUST be made public – It is in the interest of the country and the generations to come to end corruption in all its forms and this is certainly where we should begin to combat the cancer of corruption which is eating into our body politic. As candidates they should submit their Assets Declarations for once they enter Parliament they don’t and there is no way of compelling them to do so then.

Next, the President should make a reality of the Sovereignty granted to the people through the Constitution by giving the people the Right to Information. The only information that could be withheld would be information relating to the Security of the country. There can be no excuse for not granting this Right unless it is to protect the dishonest.
We have entered Election time in the country and there are already allegations of corruption and mismanagement and it is being heaped at the door of the Elections Commissioner – this is most unfair for he has no control over all the so-called actors and agencies involved. We have changed governments through the Ballot Box no less than eight times since 1948 – this is indeed a record we can be proud of, so we MUST have an independent Elections Commission as we did under the 17th Amendment to ensure free and fair elections.
It is an accepted fact that there has been an unprecedented breakdown of Law and Order in the country and this is certainly not good for the country’s image and most important of all it should not become an excuse for leaders of the Commonwealth not to come for the Summit. The government is no doubt aware of this and has created a new Ministry for Law and Order and placed a very respected General of impeccable integrity as the Secretary of the Ministry which would be directly under the President himself. Whilst this is a most welcome action should we not think long term and have an independent Police Commission headed by a recently-retired Judge of the Supreme Court with the Secretary of the new Ministry as the Chief Executive? I am of the view that this arrangement would be most effective and would deliver the goods as far as the citizens are concerned, and most importantly help to restore confidence in the Police which is today  at its lowest- ever level. It is being said that the Police Service has been politicised; this image is not good for them or the country. The Police Service, which has rendered tremendous service to the country, must be restored to its rightful place of honour.
The other branch of governance which has a sanctity of its own of course, is the Judiciary. It is not incorrect to state that people are beginning to lose faith in the Judiciary and this is a national tragedy. Faith in the Judiciary MUST most urgently be restored in the national interest. Let the government appoint an independent Judicial Services Commission. We need also to have an independent Public Services Commission; our Public Service is sadly not what it used to be – it is today a Politician-Serving Commission; the deterioration began in 1971 when the government of Sirimavo decided at the instance of the Marxists in the Cabinet to take over the then separate and independent Public Services Commission and arrogated to itself power over appointments and disciplinary control of the Public Service. That was the start of the rot and the Service according to many, has been so politicised that it is a menial service run for politicians by politicians. Let us re-establish a professional Public Service of truly trained professionals. Yes let us once again have an independent Public Services Commission.   Being only human, it is an accepted fact that whether we be emperors or mere citizens, we make mistakes and what is considered truly great is when we accept the mistake and set about correcting it or addressing the problem again. This is what distinguishes the ordinary man from a noble being. Our President has a glorious opportunity to achieve this status. He should through a Referendum ask the people as to whether we wish to continue with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution or whether they wish to have the 17th Amendment restored, that would be in keeping with the spirit and letter of true Democracy.



"There is no doubt that the people’s first priority should be to  change the electoral system"


The people of our country would indeed be grateful to the President if he does this and also gets Parliament to establish a Constitutional Council to vet and approve all appointments to the various independent commissions. If only the President did this and also reached out to the Tamil and Muslim people in a meaningful manner and sorted out their grievances once and for all, then the so-called international community and India too would hail him and call off their bullying.