Many responsible citizens are concerned that the two Presidential candidates have not pledged to implement the 17th Amendment to the Constitution for this amendment has sanctity of its own. This amendment became law in October of 2001. It was intended to free the Public Service, the Police Service, the Judiciary, the Elections Commission, the Bribery Commission and a number of other institutions from political control. The reason for this is self evident. Over the years the wretched itinerant politician dressed in brief authority has sought to prostitute hallowed state institutions to their purposes, posing a huge threat to freedom, human rights and democracy.

The 17th Amendment established a Constitutional Council. It comprises the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, one person appointed by the President nominated by both the PM and the Leader of the Opposition and one nominated by the smaller political parties. This seems well and good on paper but as it turned out but for the politicians the others on the Council were all lawyers; the Council was thus not representative of the country at large and professionals. This was indeed ironic for I believe the concept emanated from the Organization of Professional Associations. This all important Council was required to recommend the appointment of members and Chairpersons of the following Commissions: The Elections Commission, the Public Service Commission, the National Police Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Bribery Commission, the Finance Commission and the Delimitation Commission.

As stated earlier, the rationale was to safeguard the independence of the Commissions to ensure that they did not become playthings of the politicians in power; to make certain that there was justice and fair play. For instance, the Public Service Commission is vested with the powers of Appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of Public Officers and insulated against outside interference. If only this interference could be ended, meritocracy would be enthroned and justice would not only be done but would be seen to be done infusing credibility in governance.

It is more than unfortunate that the laudable intentions of this amendment could not be realized. The President herself is being blamed but the fact of the matter is that the political will is not present among the political parties to surrender power to independent institutions though they agree that it is in the interest of the country. The duplicity of our politicians stand exposed. The evidence is stark. The Constitutional Council went out of office months ago but a new Council has yet not been appointed. The Election Commission was never appointed because the President objected to the retired Supreme Court Judge being appointed Chairman. The whole country suffers; none more than the Elections Commissioner who is not being allowed to retire despite his not being in the best of health. In recent days, we had a senior Minister of the government wanting the Police Commission to transfer some of its powers to the IGP, no doubt, in order to promote and transfer their lackeys negating the purpose of the law. Fortunately, for this country we have in the person of the Chairman of the Police Commission the incorruptible Ranjit Abeysuriya, a person of such integrity that he can stand up to any politician in this country.

All Commissions would cease to function by the end of the year and hence it is that we seek an solemn assurance from the Presidential aspirants that the highest priority would be given to the appointment of the Constitutional Council and all other Commissions and implement the 17th Amendment in letter and spirit and that they would transform this country into a real democracy from the pseudo democracy it is today.

Yet another priority area is the matter of Electoral Reform. Once again we find a situation where the two major political parties are agreed that the present system which has made a caricature of Parliament and elections to it must be reformed. But because the minority political parties are opposed to reform as the present system is advantageous to them, the major political parties, who are dependent on the minorities to form coalition governments, have been rendered impotent. There could always be provision made for the ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged groups to be proportionately represented but the present system which is inherently corrupt must be dumped. It is said that a candidate needs a minimum of ten million to spend on an election and where and how do they find this money? Don’t we also recall the infamous election to the North Western (Wayamba) Provincial Council? That was no election but a war. We need an assurance from both candidates that the present system would be dumped.

Time without number have we called for an end to confrontational politics. We have drawn attention to the fact that the British transplant of the Westminster model has not grown into a healthy specimen but is today a caricature of a democracy unsuited for our situation. The British Parliamentary system has evolved over one and a half centuries; after 50 years we do not even have any Conventions. The British concept of Her Majesty’s Opposition or the alternate government has not taken root here; the Opposition opposes everything the government does, resorting to even sabotage and is hell bent on toppling the government by hook or by crook. It would be recalled that Parliament was dissolved even though the last UNP government had a majority in Parliament. To end confrontational politics we need to reintroduce the Donoughmore system, which existed at the time of the State Council with amendments of course to suit the present circumstances. Professor G. L. Peiris himself wrote on the merits of the system some years ago. The Monarchical Presidential system may have its merits but its demerits far outweigh its merits. Mahinda Rajapakse has stated that he would abolish the Presidential system if elected but he would need the support of the UNP and the minority political parties to do that, as for Ranil Wickremesinghe, he seems to want to retain the system but let us hope that if it comes to a vote in Parliament his party would agree as they intended to do, when Chandrika became President.

Another important issue is that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and the Provincial Councils Act have been ignored and breached in a sense; they addressed the issue of the devolution of power. Power has actually been devolved; we still maintain a highly centralized system of government. The Provincial Councils are there only in name.

If only the Concurrent List in the 13th Amendment had been withdrawn (or even amended) together with the proviso in the 13th Amendment that gave power to the Central government to legislate on matters in the Concurrent list making a reality of the devolution I am certain that it would have taken the wind out of the sails of the separatists. It is not too late to do so even now. The country could also be re-imaged and the number of Councils or ‘Regions’ of authority could also be reduced from nine to five.

We the people must demand of our politicians that they not insult our intelligence and stop making absurd promises that they have no intention to keep, that is indeed being deceitful. We must demand that they act responsibly.

This can be done if our newspapers, Civil Society Organizations, community organizations, Social organizations such as Rotary, the Lions, the JACEES, organizations of professionals such as the OPA, including Bar Associations, the GMOA and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, bankers Associations come together and demand of our politicians and the main Presidential candidates in particular that they stop taking the people for granted, stop seeking to bribe them with absurd promises they have no intention of fulfilling and address the real issues that face the country. Perhaps the civic-minded Deshamanya Lalith Kotelawela could take the initiative to summon a Peoples Congress and adopt a meaningful Resolution which the candidates could ignore only at their peril.