People’s Councils: More Democracy, not less

by Hasini Lecamwasam

The people of Sri Lanka, over the past few months, have demanded, through a massive buildup of protest, that those in power relinquish it, given that the government that was voted in three years ago has lost all legitimacy in the aftermath of the enormous economic slump. The current composition of the Executive and Legislative arms of the government, therefore, severely violate democratic norms, even though not democratic procedures necessarily. For the short term, we had consistently asked for an interim/caretaker government, formed by all political factions. Yet, a few days ago, Ranil Wickremesinghe, a one-man representative of a discredited party, who himself had lost his seat in the last general election, was elected Executive President by Parliament. We see, in this, a strengthening of the autocracy of the office of the Executive Presidency and an ever-increasing distancing of the democratic aspirations of the people and their welfare from those in power.

This is the moment of the Aragalaya; and the moment of widespread reckoning. This is a moment that requires more, and not less, democracy. More and more people are falling into poverty, but indirect taxes are increasing nonetheless; slashes to welfare expenditure occur despite increasing suffering; concessions for the most able (direct tax holidays and fuel at lower rates for MPs, for instance) continue, oblivious to how most people are buckling under the pressure. All this shows that less democracy is precisely the cause behind suffering of this scale. We need a system in place that is more reflective of, and responsive to, people’s different needs and challenges. It is here that the idea of a People’s Council takes root, which needs fleshing out.

People’s Council/s as a parallel democratic arrangement

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) envisions the People’s Council as a body “with which the elected officials will be able to consult in policy formulation and implementation. It must act as a permanent or semi-permanent body that critically interrogates policies and aids and provides feedback to political bodies on economic and political policies and implementation of those policies. Such a process is essential in the immediate term but it must also be considered for the longer term.” In FUTA’s vision, the People’s Council will be a representative body that liaises with the proposed interim government on behalf of its constituent elements, and will be made up of national level Trade Unions, professional associations, community leaders, area experts, worker associations, traders’ associations, and the corporate sector.

However, I feel that People’s Councils, as opposed to one People’s Council would be the most democratic as it would be the most representative. To this end, cooperatives, community level organisations, small-scale unions, and other such bodies already active at the community level could be mobilised to come together as a federation, representing the interests of their communities. The apex body of this federation has to be made up of a mixed bag of local activists, members of local organisations, area experts, and the like, whose power would be checked by democratic norms and procedures. They, in turn, will need to work with the interim government made up of all political factions, to translate these consultative processes into macro political gains.

The primary task of such a federation, in my opinion, would be two-fold: first, working to alleviate the suffering of their respective constituencies by mobilising available resources at the local level, liaising with similar-minded ventures for resource and experience sharing, and pressurising the government to allocate more funds for welfare (funds it has willingly foregone by giving tax holidays to the most able, for instance); second, informing a new constitution for Sri Lanka through a People’s Manifesto that specifies our political and economic ideology, commitments, and priorities. Essentially, the Manifesto should lay the foundation for a new social contract between the citizen and the state. The proposals currently being gathered at the various protest sites, across the country, could provide a good starting point to this latter end.

We can expect this process to be anything but straightforward, however. People have different expectations of their membership in the political community, different priorities, and consequently [sometimes irreconcilably] different worldviews. For instance, a few conversations I had, in this connection, revealed considerable differences of approach to the idea of People’s Councils. Some understand it in the singular sense, and prefer ‘those who know better’ to be part of it, seemingly oblivious to the possibility of the anti-democratic nature of ‘expert rule’. Others, in contrast, emphasise multiplicity and democratic consultation in the form and process of People’s Councils (in the plural).

One activist opined that membership in the Council/s should, in fact, be honorary and rotational, to avoid the twin pitfalls of corruption and excessive concentration of power. She further held that, in the long haul, Councils, particularly at the local level, should influence the deliberations happening in their local elected bodies to reinforce democracy, every step of the way.

Engaging with these multiple visions is itself an exercise in democracy. There is no blueprint as to how to balance such myriad interests, and the often competing demands arising from them. However, it’s the process that is the point of democracy, rather than the ends it will achieve. Our responsibility is to insist on, and ensure that the process is alive and kicking.

Interventions on the current political and economic crisis is an initiative of The Kuppi Collective.