Dr. Wickramaratne frowns on SLFP  condition for backing reforms

...warns of dire consequences unless SLFP, UNP reach understanding

By Shamindra Ferdinando-March 1, 2015

The government efforts to bring in constitutional reforms during President Maithripala Sirisena’s 100-day project could suffer a severe setback due to SLFP’s stand on proposed constitutional and electoral reforms, top constitutional expert Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, PC, warned yesterday.

 Dr. Wickramaratne said that he was concerned about the SLFP’s move.

 Addressing a group of civil society activists at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Dr. Wickramaratne said that the SLFP’s call for the simultaneous implementation of both constitutional as well as electoral reforms was very good but it was not practical.

 Dr. Wickramaratne, in his capacity as a member of the panel formulating far reaching reforms, strongly opposed to delaying proposed constitutional reforms until agreement was reached on electoral reforms. The expert suggested that the government and the SLFP go ahead with constitutional reforms to reduce presidential powers pending.

Dr. Wickramaratne faulted the SLFP for offering conditional support for on-going national effort to restore democracy.

Having revealed that he had discussed electoral reforms with Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya recently, Dr. Wickramaratne admitted that electoral reforms project hadn’t received the same priority as constitutional reforms. Dr. Wickramaratne said that securing the support of smaller political parties to electoral reforms meant to do away with proportional representation with a mixed system still remained a challenging task.

The constitutional expert said that he wasn’t worried about meeting the 100-day deadline. The objective should be achieving targets within reasonable period, Dr. Wickramaratne said, warning undue delays could disrupt the project.

Commenting on ground realities, Dr. Wickramaratne pointed out that their plans could be derailed due to disputes among various political parties and alliances. New political formations could emerge, while existing ones disappear at the expense of President Maithripala Sirisena’s 100-day programme, he said.

A concerned Wickramaratne said that disputes had already emerged among those who had backed Maithripala Sirisena at the presidential election. Turning towards Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha thera, at the head table, the PC said that the prelate would have to launch a fresh campaign to compel political parties to address contentious issues.

Addressing the gathering, Ven. Sobhitha said that there was absolutely no point in having a parliamentary election under the current system. Demanding that electoral reforms be enacted ahead of next parliamentary poll, Ven. thera warned the failure would result in crooks and heroin dealers being elected to Parliament again.

The prelate accused some politicians of switching their allegiance after having accepted bribes. He urged the government to pressure the SLFP by placing its proposals in parliament. The prelate said that the SLFP couldn’t refuse to cooperate with the government.

The senior monk pointed out that political parties couldn’t shirk their responsibility as a parliamentary committee headed by former Minister and leader of the MEP Dinesh Gunawardena had made recommendations as regards electoral reforms. The bottom line was that it wasn’t something new. So, political parties should act swift and decisively to meet the aspirations of those who had voted for a genuine change.