A New Constitution; The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

By Chrishmal Warnasuriya –January 28, 2016

Chrishmal Warnasuriya

Distinguishing Between (National) Need and (Political) Want:

Last week I was invited to a panel discussion titled “Constitutional Models of Power Sharing in Multi Ethnic Societies” hosted by the Swiss mission in Colombo, moderated by Dr. Jayampathi Wickramaratne PC (now MP), a gentleman for whom I have the highest respect; having had the distinct pleasure of both practicing and drafting the law relating to Constitutions with him, most recently with the 19th Amendment. The primary lectures were by Prof. Eva Belser, Vice Dean at the Uni. Of Fribourg and Prof. Nico Steytler of the Uni. Of West Cape, South Africa, both displaying a high level of learning and practical intercourse in the subject area globally. I must thank them for opening our eyes to some concepts on which we can mould a true national identity within our diverse cultural, racial, religious and other divergences. However let me with equal haste add that whilst I agree completely that there is such a “national need” for a new ethos in formulating a new Constitution that will (hopefully) eliminate most of our long and protracted issues over ethnicity and language, I will in no way espouse to and will vociferously challenge the “political wants” of some who are now exploiting this need and hiding behind this debate for their own political merry-making and survival, globetrotting and partying on for a few years more until the next election.

Let us also not be misled into thinking that all our national woes will be solved with the waving of this constitutional magic wand! Our healthcare service where the poor patient is asked to sleep on the hospital floor or go out to the street vendor to get his own urine sample tested, or our dilapidated public transport system which only appears to cater to those who can’t afford a vehicle; not the political big- wigs who scream through the traffic in their duty free intercoolers whilst the poor tax payer who actually foots that bill ends up jammed on the road in a rickety old bus or worse, risking life and limb on the rooftop of a diesel engine train will not suddenly undergo some social metamorphosis just because we draft a new constitution. Let’s face it, as the present regime themselves admit, had their Lordship of the Supreme Court permitted them to transfer some of the Executive Power to the Prime Minister and Cabinet in the manner they proposed in the 19th Amendment, we will not even be discussing this new constitution today; possibly some other “carrot” would have been thrown our way to digest.

Thus being forewarned (and therefore forearmed) of that political reality of self serving political agendas, let us yet use this opportunity to have a meaningful dialogue over some possible constitutional concepts that we, as a nation, will need to decide on in our journey towards building a long-lasting Sri Lankan identity encompassing our unique diversities. With gratitude to the above Expert Panel (with their permission) I have built on their general direction and permitted my “local mind” to wander over the following thoughts.

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