Sri Lanka Constitution Reform is Very Open, Very Transparent Process – Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne

Dr. N.M. Perera, stood for a new constitution from 1978-----What did Mr. Chelvanayagam say in the Constituent Assembly?

(Speech made by Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne in Parliament on 23.02.2016 on the Resolution for setting up a Constitutional Assembly, as a Committee of the whole House.)

03/03/2016 

Hon. Presiding Member,

Today, a golden opportunity has opened up for us to build a new constitutional edifice, with the broad support of the people and various political parties. We take the first step towards that today. Why do I say so? Have we not made constitutions before with the support of the people and all political parties?

The 1947-48 Constitution was not made by us. It was given to us by our colonial masters, the British. It is true that the Soulbury Commission heard the views of the people to some extent and that the Ministers’ Draft was considered. But, finally, it was a constitution imposed on us by the British. That is why it was opposed. There was considerable interest in adopting soon, a constitution rooted in our soil, an autochthonous constitution, as other countries that emerged from colonial rule did.

There were several issues. Could we have repealed the Soulbury Constitution was a whole, acting through Parliament? Dicta of the Privy Council in several cases raised doubts about that. Also, a two-thirds majority for any party seemed impossible to achieve. So, the United Front, at the general elections of 1970 asked for a mandate from the people to adopt a new constitution, acting through a Constituent Assembly outside Parliament. Quite unexpectedly, the United Front obtained more than a two-thirds majority. However, because of the legal issue mentioned earlier, a new constitution was not attempted through the Parliamentary process. Most people do not know that when the Members of Parliament were invited to meet at the Nava Rangahala, all 157 MPs, representing the Government and the Opposition, attended the first meeting. The Federal Party, Tamil Congress, United National Party, Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Communist Party- they all attended. There was thus the unique opportunity to build a constitution with the participation of all parties. Mr. Chelvanayagam was an active member of the Steering and Subjects Committee.

It is regrettable that the Constitution that Sri Lanka got was one that the United Front wanted, not one built with the support of all. This is evident through a reading of the Constituent Assembly debates. We, of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, took part in the exercise. One of our leaders, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, was the Minister of Constitutional Affairs; that is a different issue. We need to look at what happened objectively. Looking back, that is the lesson to be learnt.

Hon. Presiding Member, the best example on the national question is the proposal made by Mr. Dharmalingam, the father of our Hon. Siddarthan. He proposed federalism on behalf of the Federal Party and said: “We ask for a Federal State. But if you cannot accept federalism, can you not at least abolish the Kachcheri system and set up bodies at District level as the parties belonging to the United Front promised at successive elections?”

Sir, that is stated in Column 429 of Volume 1 of the Constituent Assembly Debates of 16th March 1971 and I quote:

“If this Government thinks that it does not have a mandate to establish a federal Constitution, it can at least implement the policies of its leader, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, by decentralizing the administration, not in the manner it is being done now, but genuine decentralization, by removing the Kachcheris and in their place establishing elected bodies to administer those regions.”

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