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“Well, I’d rather be unhappy than have the sort of false, lying happiness you were having here”
- Aldoux Huxley (Brave New World)

What is transpiring in Sri Lanka now, is unprecedented. A constitutional scheme which in its default mode, was supposed to select it‘s Executive President through peoples direct vote, as opposed to the majority in the legislature, now has been turned on its head. 

Not only is the Constitutional trap that has been there all this time, has now come to frown at the people with a sinister sneer, in terms that it is not the people at a Presidential Election who will have the opportunity of choosing the person who would wield the Executive power of the people, as the Constitution suggests; more alarmingly, that too, to be effected by a legislature, whose composition, does not reflect the will of the people, at all.  People have reclaimed their executive power they delegated, from the Executive President, whom they elected barely two and-a-half years ago with a resounding mandate, by direct mass action. But now they are confronted with a legislature, in the form of a Parliament which, though elected by them two years ago, is now filled with politicians who no longer represent the will of the citizens and therefore, bereft of legitimacy. And they are going to decide who will replace the deposed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as their Executive President. 

A tinkered sovereignty 

The constitution which had been patched up twenty time in its lifespan of 44 years, now threadbare with tinkering , done time and again , not with the intention of upgrading it to better reflect the sovereign aspirations of the people , who according to Article 3 of the very Constitution , are the wielders of all sovereign power. Constitutions are political. They are expressions of a political will to rule. Just as the ancient victors of war imposed their will on the subjects after annihilating their rivals, the modern Constitutions allow the holders of majority power to rule nations through a legally binding document which is considered supreme law. 

The First Republican Constitution of 1972, through the legislative supremacy it enshrined, expressed the will of the Sinhala Majority to rule without any hindrance.  The Second Republican Constitution of 1978 did violence not only to Republicanism, but verily to Constitutionality itself, by placing one man, a demi-God above the law. If the First Republican Constitution were to establish the will of the majority ruling class to govern, The Second Republican Constitution, went much further, concentrating all power on one person, making the entire structure of governance subservient to the Executive President. 

By the time this article makes it to print,  Parliament will be voting, to elect a New President to fill the gap left by Gotabaya and all the usual gimmicks associated with such constitutional games are now being played. Promises, payments and positions are on offer for those members who are willing to deal in the sovereign legislative power conferred on them by the people. A constitutional fallacy that has created an illusion, hoodwinking the masses that they are the true rulers of this governing structure and which had been grossly abused umpteen times, is yet again being made use by the power hungry, senile men. The dreams and hopes of a younger generation who wished for a better country, are about to be dashed on the rocks that border the ocean along the Galle Face beach front, which they have been in occupation for over 100 days now. The supreme law of the country turns out, yet again, a super - spoiler of the aspirations of the citizens to be the masters of their own destiny.

The New Law

Then we heard the term, ‘New Law’ as uttered by Kumar Gunaratnam, the leader of the Frontline Socialist Party, which has been a major player in the Aragalaya which started more than three months ago. Although he was the first person to use that term and express in public, the will to break away from an old and hackneyed constitutional format that has failed, his call for this ‘New Law’ resonates with millions of people who are frustrated beyond their limits of forbearance, especially the youth who do not want any remnant from this ugly, nauseating and disgusting path of governance. They want a new system , a new order, a new life; a brave new world, where senile men do not hold the future of sons and daughters of the nation for ransom, for their greed for power and hunger for gratification of the senses. The old scheme of governance do not allow, leave alone facilitate, such a drastic breakaway from the way politics have been done for the last seven decades, after independence. 

The mere mention of the ‘New Law’ has raised concerns. We see many pundits, as well as those who are not-so- pundits, raising concerns about the sheer audacity by those such as Gunaratnam, to question the supreme law of the land and to usher in a system where the people take matters in to their own hands. They abhor the protestors in the streets taking the law in to their own hands, forcibly entering government offices and institutions, pressurizing parliamentarians to do their bidding, interfering with law enforcement etc. At a glance these anxieties are justified. The anti protest campaign is quick to hark back to the 1988-89 period where the youth of the country took matters to their own hands and the bloodshed and mayhem that followed. They insist whatever the expectations are, those have to be attained within the constitutional frame work and according to law. 

Too radical for their liking 

Most of the groups instrumental in getting the Gotagogama and the Aragalaya off the ground, and to their credit, managed to dismantle the SLPP government, in effect, then distanced themselves from the movement, stating that far radical and extremist groups were now in the driving seat. Certain incidents such as assaulting security personnel and grabbing firearms as well as the setting ablaze of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence at 5th lane seems to have given substance to their apprehensions. The professionals including lawyers, NGO workers, civil right activists, clergy, private sector employees are among those who have opted to back down from the struggle. The radical youth, are now left alone in the battlefield and will be blamed for any unexpected turn the events might take any time, especially in a context where the Acting President has imposed Emergency regulations and instructed security forces to use necessary power to maintain order. 

Order means the old system. A system that has failed astronomically and has landed not only the entire citizenry, but even the generations to be born in this once blessed land in insurmountable misery, making them Beggars Extraordinaire in the eyes of the entire world. A new law is inimical to the detractors. They say it’s dangerous, harmful and does not augur well for democratic governance.

Democratic governance? I beg their pardon! As has been the case for decades now? Are they kidding even at this last moment….?

Sanjeewa Fernando, Economist. 

This article was originally published on Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka.  
Views in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect CGS policy.