By K. D. Dumindusena
(October 09, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is a demand from some political parties to abolish the Executive powers of the President of Sri Lanka. It is a major slogan of a certain political party. Executive powers were vested in the President of Sri Lanka by the constitution of 1978.
Before 1978 there were Presidents without Executive powers under the 1972 constitution. Presidents ruled this country from 1978 and it has only a 30 year history with five Executive Presidents.
After gaining independence, Sri Lanka had a democratic parliamentary system with powers vested in the Cabinet and Parliament.
Sri Lanka has a long history of kingship with Executive powers. From King Wijaya to King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, 108 kings ruled this island with Executive powers over 20 centuries. Portuguese and Dutch nations ruled the coastal belt of the island from 1505 up to 1800. The British nation captured power of the coastal line from the Dutch in 1796 and became rulers of the whole island in 1815. The British colonial rulers administered the country until independence was granted in 1948 with Executive powers vested in them by the British government.
The point is that for over 2500 years, Sri Lanka was ruled by kings, governors, Presidents with Executive powers, except for the 1948 - 1978 period. On the recommendation of the Soulbury Commission in 1947, Sri Lanka was granted independence with the establishment of democratic government with a Parliament and Senate. Sri Lanka became an independent country in 1948. Under the constitution of Ceylon, Executive powers were vested in Parliament and the Cabinet.
A new constitution was passed in 1978 and it established a new post of President of Sri Lanka, instead of the Governor as representative of the Queen of the British empire, without Executive powers. A government came to power in 1977 with the vast majority of Parliamentary seats, passed the bill to amend the constitution and the new constitution was enforced with the Executive President. Five Executive Presidents ruled this country during the past 30 years. The post of Executive President was created by the people of this country with their majority vote.
The ordinary people of this country want to live in peace and harmony. The government’s responsibility is to provide for security, peace and welfare of the nation. It must look after the nation and provide welfare facilities to the people to live happily and develop the country to achieve economic progress. Most people are not bothered about the Executive powers of the Presidency and they want to live in peace and harmony. -Sri Lanka Guardian
Home Unlabelled Why abolish the Executive powers of the President?
Why abolish the Executive powers of the President?
By Sri Lanka Guardian • October 09, 2009 • • Comments : 1
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Governance by legislative, executive and judicial branches is good if there are checks and balances. For example in the United State all three branches are active in governance with vigorous checks and balances. Sri Lanka’s 1978 constitution has all three branches but without proper checks and balances giving too much power to the executive branch thus subjugating legislature and judiciary to the executive branch. Such a governing system is too dangerous for the people and country specially when the political system is corrupted so much for so long. There are so many examples from JR to Rajapakse to show that executive branch abused its power. Can you tell me why the present President is reluctant to implement the 17th amendment to the constitution? This constitution allows presidents to act without responsibility. President is not responsible to anybody. He can abuse the power to win elections to subjugate dissent and destroy opponents. The truth is all the presidents from JR down to Rajapakse abused the power for the detriment of the people and the country. That is why all Sri Lankans must work together to abolish this executive presidency and bring forth a system that operates through leaders who are responsible for the people who elected them.
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