Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 31  March  2015

Election Promises and Clemency

This morning I thanked through the Lord – Professor  Otong Rosadi - the Dean of Law at  Ekasakti University, who testified as an expert witness for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. That to me is  Clemency ruling on behalf of Indonesia – with Professor Otong Rosadi becoming the medium for its manifestation.  I believe that this  will invoke Common International Energies to support Indonesia in its global activities. It is not just about two individuals. It is about the Law and Order systems of Indonesia as well as Australia.

In my mother nation – Sri Lanka the former Government headed by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa was strongly criticized by Global leaders for acting in breach of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers between the Judiciary and the Executive – when the then Government dismissed the Chief Justice for not going along with the Government to satisfy its political expectations. The Clemency system of Indonesia now stands exposed of such breaches on regular basis. A President who takes advice from the Judiciary is acting in breach of the above Doctrine of Separation of Powers. One cannot dismiss that which is separate. On that basis the Sri Lankan Government erred in Law.

It is now clear that the Indonesian Government did not have such Separation of Powers between the Executive Government and the Judiciary.  Hence ruling of the President in the name of Clemency is in fact a legal ruling. As per news reports – the current President of Indonesia promised during election time - to be tough on drug dealers. Promises made during election time are like benefits promised when one is trying to win a job. They are at the basic level of a relationship and need to be clearly spelt out. One has the power to grant Clemency only when the person so empowered is capable of being like the Lord – impartial and independent of the very system through which punishment is ordered as well as the one through which the ordered punishment is carried out.  To that extent these position holders are acting as messengers of god.  From time to time – citizens without special positions also become messengers of god. The legal team working against this death penalty in this matter has gone beyond its position duties and hence its members  have become messengers of god. Hence they were able to produce an independent witness. A University by its very status is independent of the Government as well as the Legal system.  This enables the University to make discoveries beyond the expectations of those who fund the University. The Judiciary needs such independence to identify with the path of Truth – which is the highest law of all.

When a leader makes election promises on an issue, that leader automatically foregoes the power to be independent of the persons who have the power to elect her/him.  Hence all Discretionary Powers are forgone when a Politician makes such promises. In this instance – the current President does not have any Discretionary Powers in drug trafficking – but has to show outcomes to confirm that he has earned his position – without using any discretionary powers.

The parallel in Northern Sri Lanka happened during the election of the Chief Minister of Northern Province. During election campaign – Mr. Wigneswaran – who was a Judge of the Supreme Court of  Sri Lanka – expressly recognized the contribution by LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to win votes. By doing so – Mr. Wigneswaran forewent his authority to make unilateral declarations based on belief  – including that of Genocide. Mr. Wigneswaran also lost his heritage through the Judicial path and/or as a citizen - by making this an election issue.

In 1976, through the Vaddukoddai Resolution, Tamil Political leaders did make that unilateral declaration of Independence and they did win the position of Equal Opposition in Parliament – even though Tamils were only about 25% of the total population. But by acting as if the human system of politics continued to owe them – they lost sight of the fact that the Lord facilitated this position for them. Instead of raising their act to Governor level – they remained at political level and hence sought visible separation – and hence they got the LTTE – who knew very little about higher governance.  Had those Political Leaders realized that the real power was from the People who submitted to the higher system of Truth / Natural Justice – they would have given form to become the real leaders through Equal Opposition in parliament. Equality comes with this Independence and v.v.

Systems are developed through sacrifices of earned benefits by few. The older the system – the stronger the value. In Bali’s main religion - Hinduism – Lord Shiva personifies Independence from  the physical. As Natraj -  Dancing Shiva kicks Kaalan – Time - to stand still. When we work actively we lose consciousness of time and this invokes the Energy of all others before our Time doing that job – to merge and empower our work. Hence all  Indonesians – especially Balinese who worked tirelessly on this issue would be supported by their ancestors including Hindu philosophers. It is interesting that Professor Otong Rosadi is a Lecturer in Philosophy of Law. 

Those who have retired from active work – on the other hand bring the world to their mind by crossing cultural (place) borders. In Hindu Philosophy  this is depicted through Meditating Shiva. Citizens in retirement who dedicate their resources to identifying with their own Truth – become Natural Governors who invoke such powers beyond borders. There were many such governors in this issue who became messengers of the Lord. It’s now up to Indonesians to accept them and uphold those values – irrespective of the immediate physical outcome -   towards leading Indonesia to become more global through true powers.

One rule for both Indonesian as well as Sri Lankan voter is to eliminate a leader who has caused damage to Natural Powers. In this instance given that drug issue was a key election mandate – each time  Clemency Powers were used by that leader – it effectively meant that one voter killed another to become sole leader. This disqualifies that country from  calling  itself a  Democracy.