Electoral Reforms & The Minority Concern

By M. Ajiwadeen -April 21, 2015 

Representative democracy is vital for the democratic political practice and good governance. Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country and its pluralistic view and diversified representation have been recognized and guaranteed by the Constitutional Reforms by implementing the recommendations of the Colebrook-Cameron Commission (1833), Manning Commission (1920) and the Soulbury Commission (1947).

In this background, the Constitutional Reforms, the Amendments to the Constitutions and the Delimitation Commissions appointed to act independently had attempted to ensure the due representation of the under privileged or the numerically minor groups by recommending various mechanism. For an instance, the Ceylon (Constitution) Order in Council, 1946 permitted the creation of a multi-member constituency to enable the representation of under privileged or the numerically minor groups and even cast groups. Accordingly, Amabalngoda-Balapitiya multi member constituency was demarcated by the Delimitation Commission in 1946 taking into consideration representation of certain casts.

We, the All Ceylon Union of Muslim League Youth Fronts (ACUMLYF), on behalf of the Muslim Community of Sri Lanka, have routinely intervened on national issues and advocated for due representation of the Minority community for over five decades, urge the government and the national political parties to recognize the pluralistic nature of Sri Lankan society as one country comprising the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, including Malays and Burghers etc. and ensure adequate representation of all communities in all legislative, provincial and local authority bodies, by adopting the principles of inclusivity and equality.

Proposals for Electoral Reforms                Read More