Dual Citizenship Restriction: Time For Change 

By Chamindra Weerawardhana –SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

Dr. Chamindra Weerawardhana

The draft 20th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of the 2nd Republic of Sri Lanka, in its current form, lifts the existing restriction on Sri Lankans with dual citizenship holding elected office. This is a laudable decision, and also a long overdue one. 

In an increasingly interconnected and globalised world, it simply does not make sense to prevent suitably qualified people from accessing opportunities based on criteria of this nature. Preventing citizens with dual citizenship from accessing high office effectively wipes out a substantial segment of educated, experienced, patriotic and committed Sri Lankans from serving the country. 

To contextualise this issue, Sri Lanka is not the only country to implement such restrictive policies. The 2016 Algerian Constitution includes a similar clause. Australia bans dual citizens from holding federal-level office. These developments are also linked to the rise of populist politics across the world. The fact that a UNF government introduced this ban is a clear indication of something this writer has been reiterating repeatedly – that the neoliberal UNF [or, for that matter, its present-day manifestation SJB] does not represent a more ‘pro-democratic’ posture than the neocon SLPP. The civil society/non-profit sector’s shortfalls in fathoming this reality has [and will] come at a high cost, to say the least.  

In many countries, people holding dual citizenship do occupy high office. In such places, reactionaries call for dual citizenship-related restrictions.  While such views are sometimes veiled in a discourse of ‘order and ethics’,  these critiques only water down to a quintessential ‘frog in the well’ attitude. 

In President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government, the Garde des Sceaux-Minister of Justice, Rachida Dati, happened to have dual citizenship. The French far-right party Rassemblement National [RS, previously known as Front National] took issue with the Justice Minister’s dual citizenship – a critique that Sarkozy himself held in complete disregard. Views expressed back in 2007 by Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder and then leader of Front National, on Minister Dati share a great deal in common with elements of the Lankan alt-right that oppose the lifting of the existing restriction on dual citizens holding elected office. RS and other reactionaries have been using the topic of double nationalité to repeatedly attack ethnic minority politicians, such as ex-minister Najat-Vallaud-Belkacem and Sibeth Ndiaye, ex-spokeswoman of the Macron administration and ex-Secretary of State to the French prime minister. Reactionary politicians seldom fail to weaponize their opponents’ dual citizenship for political mileage. Former Canadian Premier Stephen Harper once criticised former NDP leader Tom Mulcair’s dual citizenship, adding the absolute platitude “I’m a Canadian and only a Canadian”. 

If the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration genuinely intends to lift the existing restriction on dual citizens assuming high office, it will be a very positive development. Whether the actual decision is motivated by concerns of a dynastic, if not a ‘fraternity’ nature is beside the point. Restricting Sri Lankans from serving the country simply because they have citizenship is, simply, an abject inanity. To give credit where it is due, previous Rajapaksa administrations have indeed shown a keenness to deploy the skills and experience of dual citizens – from Dr Palitha Kohona to Dr Chris Nonis – to the advantage of the Lankan state. 

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