The Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced that Sri Lanka will draft a new Constitution and abolish the 19th Amendment that curtailed the powers of the President and strengthened the role of Parliament

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The Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced that Sri Lanka will draft a new Constitution and abolish the 19th Amendment that curtailed the powers of the President and strengthened the role of Parliament

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Key points – 

• The Rajapaksa led Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections held in Aug 2020. Mahinda Rajapaksha is the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and new Cabinet includes members from the Rajapaksa family.
• 19th Amendment was passed in 2015 during the former President Maithripala Sirisena-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s term (2015-19). It clip the President’s executive powers, and strengthen independence of key pillars such as the judiciary, public service and elections. It brought back the two-term limit on Presidency.
• It was hailed by many, including members of civil society, as a progressive legislation but the Rajapaksa camp viewed its clauses as primarily intended to prevent its leaders’ return to power.
• It prevented dual citizens from contesting elections. At the time, two of the Rajapaksa family members including the current president were dual citizens of the USA and Sri Lanka.
• Its abolishment will strengthen Rajapaksa's grip on power. President could appoint officials for the police, judiciary and public service and dissolve Parliament anytime after one year.
• Sri Lanka's constitution has been changed 19 times from 1978, new Constitution would prioritise the concept of “one country, one law for all the people.” Changes in constitution will be made to ensure the stability of Parliament and people’s direct representation, while retaining the salutary aspects of the proportional representation system.
• The civil war divided Sri Lanka along ethnic lines - pitting the majority Buddhist Sinhalese-dominated government against Tamil rebels who wanted a separate state. The Rajapaksa family, which dominated the government from 2005 to 2015, witnessed the climax of the country’s long civil war (1983-2009). The rebels were defeated by government forces in 2009. Rights activists see the planned changes to the Constitution as an attempt to further empower the SLPP and the Rajpaksha brothers’ mainly Buddhist - Sinhalese speaking electorate.

India - Sri Lanka relations in recent days - 

• RBI has signed an agreement for extending a US $ 400 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka to boost the foreign reserves and ensure badly hit financial stability by Covid-19 pandemic.
• India assisted Sri Lanka by sending four consignments of essential medicines and equipment to fight the pandemic.
• The Indian Housing Project is to build 50,000 houses for those affected by the civil war as well as for the estate workers in the plantation areas.
• India and Sri Lanka conduct joint Military (Mitra Shakti) and Naval (SLINEX) exercises.

Problems for India - 

• Incidents of straying of fishermen in the Palk Straits and the Gulf of Mannar.
• India’s entreaties after the civil war ended to devolve more powers to Tamil areas.
• Use of China as a counter-weight to India.

The Road Ahead - 

• The Constitution-making process of the new Government shall strengthen Sri Lanka’s democracy and provide an inclusive platform for the country to achieve prosperity for all, India should push for the reconciliation efforts for the Tamils there while remaining sensitive to security concerns of the country.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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