Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

19 July  2019

Is the Law proposed to be the Boss of the President of Sri Lanka?

As per my interpretation of the Media Release dated 18 July 2019, and headed ‘THE NEED FOR A NON PARTISAN PRESIDENCY’ – by the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, the Council is seeking change of structure through 20^th Amendment to the Constitution as follows:

[The National Peace Council, therefore, calls for a 20th Amendment to the constitution by which any person elected as the president would be required by law to step down from all party political positions and be a non-partisan president who works for the well being of all. ]

To my mind this amounts to cheating. An elected President is a reflection of the Truth – taking Sri Lanka as One body/Family/Nation. The parallel of President  at electorate level is the elected member of Parliament. The Prime Minister is elected by the party with majority seats. The fact that Sri Lanka has the President from one party and the Prime Minister from another confirms the Truth – that the Parliament is vastly different to the collective thinking of Sri Lankans.

The constitution helps the nation develop a higher thinking President. Hence the two alternatives are Truth and Law. An elected President confirms the Truth. A lawful President confirms our ultimate goal – i.e. the level at which we want seek our consolidated Truth to be seen by ourselves in common and by others. To be latter – the elected President needs to carry in her/his heart – the highest developed citizen without any political portfolio.  This is not possible in Sri Lanka by a Buddhist - when the President bows to Buddhist clergy in political affairs. The difference is whether the leader is visible god possessed by the leadership or Abstract Philosophy accessible to all.

As per Hindu Philosophy – we are all god. One who identifies with her/his truth identifies with  the pathway to access Universal Power of One God/Truth/Love.

In the human structure this is represented by One brain through which we perceive the world that we are part of . When we perceive it as per our five senses – the risk of divided / split personality  - scientifically recognized as Dissociative Identity Disorder is high. One way to prevent it is to follow the Due Processes of a structure by the person / group driven by brain. Copying other brains without belief also amounts to being strongly sense driven.

Truth unites us naturally. But there may not be enough members through whom to expressly share  our truth. Say for example – the true work of the National Peace Council  while having the power to unite the nation – is not likely to  have enough believers if the leader of the Council were to seek the endorsement of the People, through majority vote. A President who ‘includes’ both in her/him – is the ideal.

Due to Buddhism foremost clause in the Constitution – the Common work of non-Buddhists will not empower a leader who expressly bows to Buddhist clergy. Likewise the work of non-Hindus in majority Tamil Political areas.  Special status to one naturally separates that one from the rest.

To my mind, when Democracy is used by someone who is naturally autocratic – s/he develops into a split personality.  This becomes more and more apparent with age in repetitive learners  until they think they are free to do as they thought  because they are leaders. We saw this happen in Sri Lanka, in October last year.

The most recent example of the Prime Minister also being at the risk of separatism was revealed as follows:

[ Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has advised State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake to refrain from utterances that would hurt the feelings of the Maha Sangha in future, it was revealed today. ]

The State Minister’s response is reported as follows:

[“The Premier told me not to hurt the Maha Sangha and asked me as to what exactly I said in my statement. I told him that I never used the word Maha Sangha but used the word ‘those who are in saffron robes," the State Minister told journalists after coming out of the meeting with the Premier. 

“I showed Mr. Wickremesinghe a file which contained details on monks who have been abused by chief incumbents of temples and he was shocked by it,” he added. Mr. Ramanayake said he would only tender an apology to those monks who practice the teachings of the Buddha but would not apologise to monks who behave in an aggressive manner in public.]

If the Prime Minister was shocked by the misconduct of Buddhist clergy – then he has been ignoring /forgetting the truth that some  Buddhist clergy have been in Politics – especially in terms of promoting - Sinhala only Sri Lanka. This happens when one forgets her/his ‘other role’. That which has been raised to the higher level – would not be separated. Those that exist as individuals – would forget the less important role. Right now the Prime Minister is in political mode and hence Buddhists have become more important than the common citizen driven by Truth or Common Law.

An elected person can only be dismissed / demoted by the electorate. That is the limit place on us by Democracy. Demotion is part of the dismissal process. Hence to demote by law AFTER election – is to cheat. It is in effect negates the validity of article 35 – according to which the President is immune from prosecution. Using the law to promote is effectively to prosecute – with the law in the middle. When used in Administration – the Law becomes the President’s boss.

The proposal by National Peace Council makes a mockery of Democracy  in which we separate once we grow taller than the Parent / Leader. Hence the Separation of Powers between the Judiciary and the Executive.