Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

13 January  2020

THE CONSTITUION AND FOREIGN RELATIONSHIPS

The true Constitution of any entity is often not in writing. Our horoscopes are written at as per the planetary positions at the time of our birth. When written and read as per the science of Astrology, it reflects the Balance Sheet of our life at the time we enter this form. By the time we exit this form through death – that horoscope / Balance Sheet would have changed.

Like the country having a horoscope, a political grouping also has a horoscope when it enters a new parliament. Traditionally, Hindu Tamils match horoscopes of the bride and groom in an arranged marriage. This is not done when the bride and groom fall in love or at least think they are in love. Love being absolute power conquers all. The parallels of this are with most communities where marriage is a strong part of their culture.  

Most governments of countries do not match Constitutions when they form partnerships with those with whom they intend long-term  partnerships. But those who respect the past know intuitively.

Each time we interpret the constitution of any structure on the basis of our own Truth – the existing constitution gets strengthened at the same level or is naturally promoted to the higher level in real terms. Political Parties that respect the existing Constitution would respect each other. Those who do not are likely to be driven by habit and therefore de facto relationships.

In his Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘  Can another constitution rescue Sri Lanka?’ Mr Gamini Weerakoon states:

[The Soulbury Constitution enabled good governance for eight years until the vital clause protecting minorities was bypassed and the Sinhala Only was adopted as the state language. The then ruling United National Party that backed the Sinhala Only move split up immediately with Tamil members leaving the party and when the 1956 General Election was held it suffered an ignominious defeat with S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike riding the crest of the wave of Sinhala nationalism sweeping the polls.]

As most of us know, plagiarism is a cardinal sin  in academic life. Plagiarism is known to have happened when one changes the surface of a publication and claims it to be her/his own. The Soulbury Constitution would have been strongly led by British minds. Most of the Common laws were based on English Law and Roman Dutch Law. Each community had its own cultural laws – confirming that Ceylon’s Horoscope at the time British left was multicultural. One could accept Kandyan Law being written in Sinhalese and Thesawalamai and Mukkuwa laws being written in Tamil – because the language of the developers of those laws were Tamils and more importantly the People who practiced those customs spoke Sinhalese and Tamil respectively. Using Sinhala Only a the official language could be taken as disconnection with the British Administration as well as Administrations based on Roman-Dutch law.

Now the new President is reported to be intending the parallel:

[President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, addressing the Ceremonial Opening of Parliament on January 3, noted that the 1978 Constitution which has been amended on 19 occasions has given rise to many problems at the present time because of its inherent ambiguities and confusions.

To safeguard the security, sovereignty, stability and integrity of our country, it was essential that changes be made to the existing constitution, he contended. Even though elections can be won through numbers, an unstable parliament that cannot take clear decisions and remains constantly under the influence of extremism is not one that suits the country.

He claimed that this problem can be resolved through constitutional reforms with a strong executive, legislature and independent judiciary that can ensure the sovereignty of the people.]

There is a saying in Tamil – that the unskilled dancer claimed that the stage was crooked!

Let us take for example Article 42 (4) which reads as follows after the 19^th Amendment:

[42 (4) The President shall appoint as Prime Minister the Member of Parliament, who, in the President’s opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of Parliament.]

The obvious measure is the leader of the group that has most seats in Parliament. This is the way of a democratic parliament. If this was not Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe – it ought to have been someone from within the UNFGG which holds majority seats in Parliament. That is a calculation that is based on the 2015 horoscope of the current government Parliament. To override it on the basis of Presidential elections is effectively to declare that Parliament dead. This current government is therefore taken to be De facto partnership and is not principle based.

When the 18^th Amendment was passed in 2010 – the government did not have two thirds majority in Parliament. But the Amendment itself was passed by 72%.

As per the latest report  the UNP seems to have formed a mental coalition with SLPP :

[I’m ready to work with President – Sajith] Adaderana

 The People are entitled to a strong Opposition to any democratic government. One who lives in the future fails to live in the present. When a someone  curries favour with a senior s/he not only confirms lack of strength to oppose but also lack of belief based relationship with a senior.

If Sajith seeks to please Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa, then he has the duty to resign from the UNP and join the SLPP. What a mess! Otherwise like Mr Sirisena he risks demonstrating bipolar disorder which is a strong possibility in Sri Lankan leaders who polarized communities and/or idly accepted others doing so.