Numbers game bodes ill for package

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 July 2000, 23:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge told the Tamil parties she met Friday for discussions on constitutional reforms aimed at resolving the ethnic conflict in the island that she will try to persuade the main opposition party, the United National Party (UNP), to consider their demands. If the UNP's response is not positive she would try to arrange a tripartite meeting between the government, the Tamil parties and the UNP to further discuss the points of disagreement the President told Tamil politicians who met her Friday afternoon.

"The President was basically putting the ball in the UNP's court, impressing upon us once more that the UNP is the sole obstacle to an acceptable solution now" said a Tamil politician who was at one of the meetings.

If the UNP's response is not positive she would try to arrange a tripartite meeting between the government, the Tamil parties and the UNP to further discuss the points of disagreement the President told Tamil politicians who met her Friday afternoon. "The President was basically putting the ball in the UNP's court, impressing upon us once more that the UNP is the sole obstacle to an acceptable solution now" said a Tamil politician who was at one of the meetings.

He said that the UNP need not stall the process by dragging its feet on the Tamil demands but by strongly objecting to the provision in the government's proposed constitutional reform package which allows the present executive President to continue in power for a transition phase of six years and then become the Prime Minister of the Parliament constituted under the proposed reforms for the same period.

One of the Tamil parties had pointed out during the discussions today that it would be difficult to persuade the UNP to lend support to the constitutional reform proposals because of this provision.

The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Eelam People's (EPDP) Democratic Party met the Sri Lankan President after she had had discussions with the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).

The President told the PLOTE and the EPDP that she would try to get the two third majority in Parliament (150 votes) necessary for amending the constitution even if the UNP did not agree to the demands of the Tamils.

However, a TULF leader said that securing 150 votes in Parliament for constitutional change is a tall order, given the current composition of the national legislature. The President is counting on her People's Alliance's 111 members, the EPDP's 6 members (three of the party's seats are vacant due to legal problems), the Ceylon Workers Congress's (CWC) 9 members and the UNP's 7 MPs, including Mr. Ronnie de Mel, who are with the government now. This adds up to 133 votes.

If the demands of the Tamils regarding powers over land, the nature of the state and the unit of devolution is unequivocally accepted by the government, then the 5 votes of the TULF and the 2 votes of the PLOTE could be included. Even then ten more votes would be required for amending the constitution.

"And then there is some uncertainty regarding the position of some Sinhala nationalist MPs of the PA and two MPs of the SLMC" the Tamil politician pointed out. "And of course there is the great hurdle of the referendum specifically for ratifying the amendment or repeal of the 'entrenched articles' of the present constitution, particularly Article 2 (the unitary state) and Article 9 (the foremost place to Buddhism) which are considered the main obstacles to any scheme of devolution. There is little reason to believe that the Sinhalese would endorse the repeal or amendment of these two articles" he said.

The fear of the Tamil parties that the current discussions with the government and the opposition might very well end up as another exercise in futility is also based on the question of the holding of a referendum to change the Article 2 in view of the fact that the elections to the Parliament are due before the end of November this year. The government is obviously not in a position to hold a referendum before that if it obtains a two third majority before the Parliament is dissolved in late August.

Some government politicians, however, say that the referendum on amending Article 2, 9 etc.,, according to expert legal opinion, can be held after the Parliamentary elections. If this is the case then the new Parliament would be constituted under those amendments desired by the PA and the UNP but would continue to be hold its current 'sovereignty' - the sole power to legislate basically because Article 2 would still be in force.

Article 2 of the Sri Lankan constitution (The Republic of Sri Lanka shall be a unitary state) is actuated through Article 76.1 which says " Parliament shall not abdicate or in any manner alienate its legislative power, and shall not set up any authority with any legislative power".

This would mean that the proposed regional councils cannot be set up even if the government secures a two third majority in Parliament. Every thing would be back to square one as it were.

"If one were to carefully peruse all such constitutional nuances it would reveal all the hall marks of another wild goose chase for the Tamils" said a Tamil politician.