From the authors of 18A and 19A

Friday 12th November, 2021

The government is acting as if it had solved all the burning problems the country is beset with; it has undertaken to unveil the draft of the proposed Constitution, before the end of this year. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa himself said so in Parliament on Wednesday. Why is the government in such a mighty hurry? Why isn’t it equally keen to fulfil the other election promises, which are legion.

The government is like an overloaded tuk-tuk fitted with a lorry horn. It makes all the noise in the world, but its performance is abysmally poor. It has bitten off more than it can chew by accelerating its constitution-making project. Having got its priorities mixed up, it is inviting trouble. The unveiling of the draft Constitution is bound to trigger protests amidst the current national health emergency.

What needs to be done urgently at this hour is to beat the virus decisively and straighten up the economy, which is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. There are many other unresolved issues such as labour disputes, and the prospect of widespread industrial action in case of the government going ahead with the New Fortress energy deal, etc. There are signs of another explosive spread of Covid-19, but the government does not seem to care. If the country happens to be locked down again, not even the deities who are believed to have made this country their abode will be able to save us.

A book can be judged by its author’s reputation, and that is why popular writers’ names are printed in bigger font sizes than the titles of their works. The same is true of Constitutions and amendments thereto. When mention is made of the US Constitution, the names of great leaders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams invariably come to mind. It is the collective vision of those personalities, who passionately loved their land, and other patriotic Founding Fathers, that is reflected in the US Constitution, and has made the American democracy robust so much so that it has survived the likes of President Donald Trump.

America’s political leaders, in days of yore, had the capacity to contribute to the framing of the supreme law. Statespersons of such calibres are rare today even in the US, and we, in this part of the world, have been left with a bunch of ‘leaders’ who cannot even have a Gazette notification properly drafted.

A discussion on the promised Constitution at this juncture is like preparing a horoscope for an unborn baby, as a popular local saying goes, but it is certainly naïve to have high hopes, given the reputations of the political leaders behind the project.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa, on Thursday, spoke of the flaws in the present Constitution and its amendments. It is he who introduced the 18th Amendment, one of the worst pieces of legislation the country has ever seen. His brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, overtook him by having the 20th Amendment passed. If the 20th Amendment is abolished with the 19th Amendment being reintroduced with some changes thereto to cleanse it of yahapalana politics, the existing Constitution can work until the time is opportune for making a new Constitution.

Meanwhile, the government leaders involved in the constitution-making project should heed what a federal judge told former US President Trump on Tuesday: “The Presidents are not Kings.” Blessed is a country that has intrepid judges capable of humbling arrogant politicians. We are not that lucky. That is why we have Presidents acting like monarchs.

One can only hope that the Constitution which is said to be on the anvil will not be an exercise to compass the political ends of those in power, especially the ruling family, which has a deep batting lineup, as it were.