Proposals for the Expedited Amendment for the
Constitution for Revitalizing Sovereignty of the people and for a Stable
Government
The proposed
constitutional amendment shall aim at, completely depoliticization of the
governing system through establishing /revitalizing the following commissions with
wider powers, to deal with political interference from any level of hierarchy –
i.e., all these commission shall be of totally independent of interferences and
have powers to deal with those interfering and or hindering, through judicial
process,
1.
The Election
Commission, The Public Service Commission, The Audit Service Commission, The
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, The Finance Commission, The Delimitation
Commission, The National Procurement Commission, The University Grants
Commission
2.
The Parliament shall assume the Executive power, and the
Executive Presidential system be abolished with immediate effect, whereas, the Prime
Minister, as the head of the Government and the Cabinet of Ministers is
accountable to Parliament.
3.
Parliament shall
establish the Constitutional Council and appoint the chairmen, secretaries and
the members in a prudent manner for the independent commissions above mentioned
in 1- other than Judicial Service Commission
4.
The Constitutional
Council members and its activities will be similar to that of found in 19th
Amendment of 2015, but except for
a. President will not appoint a member, instead
the parliament will appoint two members, as described below
b. Two persons nominated by agreement of
the majority of the Members of Parliament belonging to political parties or
independent groups, other than the respective political parties or independent
groups to which the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition belong.
c. Four persons appointed by The Speaker,
The Prime Minister, The Leader of the Opposition, and from State recognized Professional bodies, who
may or may not be a Parliament Member and include fifth person the Chairman of
the National Judicial Service Commission (described below 5) who will be
the Chief Justice as well, and in turn who would have been approved by the Constitutional
Council itself.
d. The Constitutional Council will not
appoint Attorney General, The Chairman for the National Police
Commission (NPC) and to The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or
Corruption (CIABC)
5.
*Though The Judicial Service
Commission will continue as an independent professional body, shall be elevated
as The National Judicial Service Commission (NJSC) and be further strengthened and
established to bring the Attorney General’s (AG) Department, The National
Police Commission (NPC), The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery
or Corruption (CIABC) and The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) under its
purview in order to be free of the menace meddling by drug king-pins, wealthy
criminals, selfish politicians etc. As such the respective chairpersons of The NPC
and The CIABC and the CID shall be appointed by The NJSC itself to begin with. Law
enforcement should be independently handled by Department of Police headed by Inspector
General Police who is answerable and responsible only to NPC, AG and hence to
The NJSC and to the entire Judiciary system. IGP shall be appointed by the NJSC
on the recommendation of the NPC within the purview of NJSC shall handle the all
the transfers required for the optimum effectiveness of the law enforcement by the
Police Department. As such Ministry of Law and Order shall be incorporated into
the Ministry of Justice.
The objectives of this proposal are to prevent governing system affiliating
to any political party either ruling or non-ruling or opposition, impartiality
of the law enforcement ensuring the Sovereignty of the People and continuity of
dispensing justice even on change of government - and to prevent judicial jurisdiction
being encroached by political greediness and political whims of revenge on each
other.
6. An additional independent Commission be established, by the
Constitutional Council of Parliament for Poverty Alleviation (NPAC) and its
activities shall be decentralized provincially, The National Poverty
Alleviation Commission will monitor the progress of the poverty alleviation in
respect of number and progress of self-reliance, number of participants to be
reduced each year for each province. The NPAC also involve Non-Governmental Organizations
(NGOs) and monitor the activities of the NGOs in a wider spectrum.
7.
The Constitutional Council shall as well under take the,
I.
the
appointments of the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Monetary
Board should also be done with the approval of the Constitutional Council;
II.
The appointments of the Secretaries to the
Ministries, Governors, Ambassadors and Heads of Missions to be done on the
advice of the Prime Minister in consultation with the Cabinet of Ministers;
III.
Selecting the Presidential Candidate through Parliament, once the
amendment is enacted.
8.
The Department of Archaeology
should be brought under and supervised by another Independent Commission
for Diversified Cultural Heritage, in order to appropriately preserve and
interpret artifacts found beyond of 2600 years, and to prevent the Department
of Archeology being influenced by prejudiced, short-sighted politicians and
religious groups interfering for political gains, which has been the case since
independence. The Constitutional Council shall ensure such commission is
established with members representing of Experts of History from all ethnicity.
9.
The President shall be
only of ceremonial and decorative and shall be the Chief of Tri-Forces and be
elected by the Parliament, shall not hold any cabinet portfolios. The exception
is that, current president will be functioning as Minister of Defense until his
first term ends, unless he resigns before the end of term.
10. Once the amendment is enacted in Parliament, incumbent president,
unless he resigns, shall continue until the end of his first term, shall not affiliate
himself to any political party.
11. President on completion of the 1st term of 5 years,
Parliament will hold the discretion to reelect the incumbent president, or to
elect a new president on the recommendations of the religious leaders of any sect
and societies of all religions and any other civic societies compulsorily not
affiliating to any political party. The Constitutional Council of Parliament will
scrutinize the recommendations forwarded by the civics through key performance Index
and political affiliation. Simple majority in the parliament enable the select
to the Highest Office, if two or more candidates selected by PCC as suitable,
12. Any candidate for presidential office selected by Parliament Constitutional
Council to be elected by the Parliament, found to be canvassing among the
Parliament members for disqualifies automatically to be in the contest or to hold
the Presidential office.
13. A non-Citizen or a Dual Citizen can neither hold nor be
appointed to any office within Sri Lanka, nor be allowed to represent Sri Lanka
outside Sri Lanka
14. Any elected body or any person shall not entertain a request for
Pardoning of convicts, pardoning shall only by process done by National
Judicial Service Commission, on the recommendation by Parliamentary Constitutional
Council.
15. Department of Prisons and
the Commissioner general of Prisons, as well shall come under the purview of
National Judicial Service Commission, in the context of there have been
numerous occasions Commissioner General of Prisons and the prisoners have been used
for Political vandalism at the disposal of politically starved politicians.
16. a. Rescind the Special Presidential Commission
of Inquiry appointed by Gazette (Extraordinary) No. 2212/53 of 29 January 2021
to implement the recommendations and decisions made by the Presidential
Commission of Inquiry appointed to Investigate Allegations of Political
Victimization during the Period Commencing 8 January 2015 and ending 16
November 2019 appointed by Gazette (Extraordinary) No. 2157/44 of 9 January
2020.
b. Refrain from implementing the recommendations of the
Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to Investigate Allegations of
Political Victimization during the Period Commencing 8 January 2015 and ending
16 November 2019 appointed by Gazette (Extraordinary) No. 2157/44 of 9 January
2020.
The
objectives of these above proposals for the expedited amendment for the constitution
is to create a Stable Government that reflects the ability to reform towards,
transparency, impartiality in law enforcement free of individual interferences and
discretions, as credibility to negotiate with the IMF, other multilateral
agencies, and friendly countries to help Sri Lanka get out of the economic
crisis, which is also help to achieve the following in the ground situation
1. To create political, economic
and social stability in the country.
2. To create an environment to
address the fundamental problems that have brought about the current crisis
(and imperil the future reforms).
3. To restructure external debt
and enter into appropriate programs with multi-lateral institutions including
the IMF and for that purpose to appoint the financial and legal advisers and
negotiate a debt standstill pending debt restructuring.
4. To obtain bridging finance.
The bridging finance together with the savings arising from the debt standstill
to be used to procure uninterrupted supply of essentials to the People until
such time the debt restructuring, and the IMF program is in place. This will
eliminate the shortages in power, fuel, gas, medicines, food, etc.
5. To create an environment to
combat corruption and to ensure accountability and strengthening independent institutions.
Electorally Revitalizing the Sovereignty of the People
1. The New
Electoral Process should be Based on 2004 Parliament Select Committee Headed by
Hon. Dinesh Gunawardene on Electoral Process.
2. 70% should be absolutely on First Past the Post
System, (FPPS) that enables the voter to clearly identify the candidate through
the ballot paper itself rather than by just numbers. The voter clearly
identifying the candidate is an important part of the universal franchise, in
which the voter clearly, sum up the candidate’s suitability as a persona to
represent the voter to an Electorate. This should never be considered as
preference voting instead voters’ discretion with conviction in which the voter
is given a broad opportunity to elect a correct person as the voter marks the
ballot paper just by one mark only. Since there is never a practice of one vote
for a party and second marking for a candidate of another party an elective
candidate should not hide behind the numbers, a hallmark of franchise system and
appropriate way to abolish the Preference Voting where marking up to 3 are
allowed. If the candidature is honest and bold there is no need for candidates
to hide behind the numbers.
3. The above described absolute FPPS allows an
individual to field his candidature on his own without relying on a political
party or a group, and seek a membership in a local council / parliament to
serve her/his own electorate people, in which likes of Dahanayakes, Mudiyanse
Thennako
nes, Navaratnams, Sunthralingams and some Islamic members
have emerged and had done yeoman service got their opportunities through
the system to serve their own people in the era before 1977. This is another
characteristic of the Universal Franchise, in which people of an electorate
electing their own individual woman/man had been deprived of by the present system
and I understand in the proposed system as well. This must be corrected in the
proposed new sew system. The inability of an individual being field
herself/himself as candidate for councils have paved way forming of undesired
groups and sprouting of numerous short-sighted political parties. 70% FPPS won’t
hinder Independence Groups fielding their candidate in an election.
4. The Balance 30% of members of a councils/ Parliament
should be derived from vote casted for a political party through a candidate of
that political party or an Independence Group, which makes the mixed electoral
process simple and smart, easy to understand by the voter, - most important
factor in seeking public mandate. Political parties will hand over two
applications one for individual candidate representing that political party in
a particular electorate and list of names that will represent the party in the
council or in the Parliament for the balance 30%, and such 30% list should be
properly advertised enabling the voter to decide on a political party or on the
individual the party fielded as a candidate or on an Independence
Candidate.
5. The
characteristics of a franchise system should not be compromised for the
bad/criminal activities of politically oriented supporters at all cost, or for
the cost of Electoral Franchise.
6. Such
a system of 30% members deriving allow the political parties and independence
groups to elect most demanding women representation and professional experts to
municipal councils and Parliament. It also can be effectively used for
justifiably elect members from minorities of an area or of an electoral
district.
7. This kind of Mixed Electoral System (MES) becomes best effective in reflecting the choice of the people, when total number of members of a local government body is considered as basic unit and for Provincial Council and in Parliament Election number of members carried by an Electoral District becomes basic unit. Though for Provincial council and Parliament total number of members can be considered as basic unit, it is not recommended as it will deprive or limit the appropriate representation of different ethnic groups. E.g. if Jaffna Municipal Council carries 40 members, 28 members will be elected through wards wise FPPS and 12 will be derived through Proportional Representation System (PRS). In a Parliament election If Jaffna Electoral District carries 10 members 7 electorates will elect seven members through FPPS, the balance 3 will be allocated to political parties mustering over 7.5 % of the total valid votes cast of the electoral district/local council for gaining representation. All electoral Districts having less than 7 members for Parliament should be duly adjusted through provincial basis to attain appropriate the (70:30)% Electoral Mixed Representation.
8. Merit
for Qualification.
There was a proposal to have a floating
number of members to Parliament, Provincial councils, and local councils to
accommodate all those contesters attaining stipulated percentage of total valid
votes. This shouldn’t be the case; all elected governing bodies must have fixed numbers
to be elected and
there should be a merit system to
accommodate the best only to attain the fixed number of members that has been
already stipulated among qualified- all those who attained more than 7.5%
of the total valid votes for the electoral district or for the Local government; this 7.5% can be further reduced to
if this merit system is introduced for the benefit of minor
political parties and Independence Groups.
A Merit Value of MES qualification (Q) for
membership system can be easily derived by calculating the distance of
deviation from average polled to attain membership, against the Total Valid
votes polled amongst all who attained 7.5%. E.g.
In a Parliament
Election if Colombo Electoral District carries 20 members, total valid votes
polled is divided by 20 to arrive at average votes needed to attain the one
member. If it is the value of 35000 (X) and If a qualified Party A has
polled 8000it needed 27000 (Ad), more votes to qualify. If another Party B has
polled 8950 B party requires 26050 (Bd)more votes to qualify which is 950 votes
less than Party A required. Therefore, obviously Party B will have to
qualify than Party A.
This is presented here as a formula to obtain a Merit Value of MES
qualification by finding the percentage distance against the Total Valid votes
Cast(Z) for the Electoral District.
9. The List of Names handed over to accommodate the 30% proportional representation before the voting process to any governing bodies or parliament, should not be allowed to altered whatsoever after the particular election is completed, so that the any candidate for 70% FPPS who has been rejected by the electors by voting, shall not gain membership to any ruling body or Parliament.
10. A Neutral
office of the President who is not affiliating to any political party, encage
with Election Commission and with National Judicial Service omission (NJSC) to
monitor political parties and its’ members, next president elect nominee and executing
the election laws for and during an election process, the office shall not assume
ministerial powers or any other power vested in her /him once the proposed amendment
has been enacted.
11. The ruling political party shall not initiate
or implement any projects using the government coffers within the 12
months of next election.
12. If a person of Sri Lankan origin who had dispelled
the citizenship of another country is still ineligible to contest an election,
or hold any office, unless she/he has lived in Sri Lanka and has disconnected
the affairs with any foreign country for the last five years of election.
13. A Parliament Member elected or nominated through
a political party disqualifies to continue as a Parliament Member when crossover
to another political party.
1. 14. The Parliament Members, since they are elected by the people
to represent the people and as the parliament membership is not a profession, should
not be entitled for any pension scheme, irrespective of they represent the
people for five or more than five years.
2.
The salaries of the MPs
shall be stipulated and recommended by a State Salary Commission according to
their educational qualification and their sitting to sittings contributions.
3. All
healthcare facilities currently provided to any politicians
should be abolished, except the health facilities that are relevant to the
general public.
4. The
free transport, electricity, water and phone facilities they are currently entitled
to should be abolished.
5.
Every
parliamentarian who has been charged with crimes, criminal charges, imprisoned
or sentenced should be removed from his position and banned from re-election
forever. The inappropriate financial accumulation they have attained should be
charged from themselves, their family members and from representatives.
6.
The MPs who have not
declared their assets, even after 3 months of swearing in as MP shall be disqualified
as Member of Parliament.
7.
Every
parliament member/minister should be subservient to the laws and rules
applicable to the common citizens of the country.
8. Neither a candidate nor a sitting MP who
has not passed the G.C.E Advanced Level should be allowed to continue as a Member
of Parliament.
9. Food
and all other relief privileges in the parliament should be abolished
10. Age
limit should be stipulated as below 60 years to enter Parliament in order to accommodate
young and fresher views in the August Sabah
11. a MP
who possesses a certified expert knowledge in particular field, shall be
appointed to the relevant subject as a minister.
Parliament
is an August Sabah, where service is an Honourable undertaking as a
representative of the people and it is not a privilege to earn or right to steal
people's money and property. People who elect the MPs deserved to be treated
respectfully, no matter most of the people may hold different opinions of the MPs,
since the younger generation and the people outside the Parliament are far more
knowledgeable than within the Parliament.
If these reforms proposal found to be require a referendum, despite the present crisis situation, there shall be a referendum at the earliest possible, that include broader aspects of the constitution, in addition to above proposals, both of which ensures sovereignty of the people entrusted to the people themselves directly in democratic governance as well; rather than by the elected executive and representatives both of which have changed course to autocratic rule after being elected in 2019 and 2020.
