With the proposed 18th amendment to the constitution the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government has inflicted a severe blow to the electoral process of Sri Lanka. Since the new amendment gives the executive President the power to appoint members to the ‘independent’ commissions, including the Election Commission, CaFFE fears that the future elections will be far from free and fair.
The reforms replace the present 10 member Constitutional Council (CC) with a five-member committee comprising the Speaker, the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition as ex officio (by right of office ) members. Unlike the existing CC which appoints members to the seven independent commissions the new five member committee will only be consulted by the president who has the power to appoint members to the independent commissions.
Also with the 18th amendment the powers of the police commission will be limited to that of an ombudsman, the Inspector General of Police would have the power to appoint and transfer personnel in the police service, while according to the article 55 of the 18th amendment the cabinet of ministers will be vested with powers to appoint, transfer, promote, take disciplinary action and remove from office of the heads of the government departments.
Under such circumstances it’s difficult to expect fairness and objectivity from these men and women during an election period. Under such circumstances the elections commission will not be able to coordinate and exercise control of the above mentioned public officials during an election and since the members to the independent commission is appointed by the president serious concerns arise about its ‘independent’ nature.
Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) strongly opposes this move as we believe that this move to reverse the set objectives of the 17thamendment is a stab at democracy and the conscience of our nation. Therefore CaFFE calls out the government to go for a referendum before it implements the 18th amendment with its two thirds majority.
History of the politicization of the government service
The politicization of the government service began with the 1972 constitution. By taking the existing independent government service under the cabinet control the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government commenced the rapid politicization of the government service. The 1978 constitution made matters worse; through a set of new rules it converted the public service, police and the judiciary mere puppets of the government.
The 17th amendment was introduced to combat this and to steadily de-politicize the government service. To achieve this objective it set up the Constitutional Council (CC,) a mechanism to appoint high ranking government officials through the consensus of all political parties. This power has once again been given to the president through the 18th amendment. This is a serious situation; we have reversed the victories of the 17thamendment and embraced the weaknesses of the 1972 constitution.
The 18th amendment proposes to take direct control of the cabinet of ministers over the department of elections, the police and the public officers. Under such circumstances its difficult to expect fairness and objectivity from these men and women during an election period. Under such circumstances the elections commission will not be able to coordinate and exercise control of the above mentioned public officials during an election and since the members to the independent commission is appointed by the president serious concerns arise about its ‘independent’ nature.
Therefore CaFFE calls out the government to go for a referendum before it implements the 18th amendment with its two thirds majority.
Keerthi Tennakoon
Director/CaFFE
02/09/2010