The Executive and the Constitutional Reforms Process in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

The debate on whether the executive presidential system which was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1978 should be retained, reformed or abolished is not a new one. It is a topic which is central to constitutional reformation in Sri Lanka, but one which always carries the potential of either making or breaking any attempt made at reforming the Constitution. This article examines the character of the post of executive president in Sri Lanka and how the most recent constitutional reforms process (initiated in 2015–2016) has sought to engage with the topic of executive presidency. Departing from the more popular trend of unconditionally critiquing the executive presidency, this article calls for a more realistic and dispassionate assessment of not only the possibility of abolishing the executive presidency but also of the viability of a prime ministerial system in Sri Lanka.     

The Structural Limits of Depoliticisation in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

Sri Lanka’s institutional reform project has gathered momentum with the enactment of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Amendment restored the Constitutional Council, which is mandated to recommend and approve appointments to key ‘independent’ institutions and offices. This article asks what it means to be meaningfully ‘depoliticised’, and explores the dynamics and parameters of the current institutional reform project in Sri Lanka. It argues that the entrenchment of Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarianism within Sri Lanka’s institutional structures has led to ‘institutional decay’. Given such decay, the article points to serious limitations in legalistic approaches that are preoccupied with improving appointment procedures. Since institutions in Sri Lanka are structurally incentivized to appease a majoritarian agenda, relying on legal-textual and institutional reform alone is inadequate. Institutional reform is ultimately constrained by the structural limits of Sri Lanka’s current constitutional framework. The article concludes that meaningful constitutional transformation requires a long-term project that aims to transform the majoritarian socio-political and cultural norms that underpin Sri Lanka’s constitutional order.     

Globalisation and the garment industry in Sri Lanka

The objective of this article is to explain how globalisation, the phase-out of MFA and regionalisation affect the development of the garment industry in Sri Lanka. The article starts with a discussion of the key concepts of globalisation and regionalisation, followed by a presentation of the analytical framework, including a theoretical discussion of winners and losers in commodity networks. It is argued that regionalisation may exacerbate the problems that the Sri Lankan garment industry has already experienced in terms of globalisation. In addition to the limited industrial development effects that are the outcome of the functional division of labour, regionalisation makes it even harder to obtain market access. It is likely that Sri Lanka continues to be tied in, both to the European and American trading blocks for the production of some good quality and reasonably priced standardised garments for the middle market. However, to be tied in as a supplier of standardised products for the middle market is a vulnerable position, especially when the market is flat and lead firms and buyers in the network pass down adjustment costs to the suppliers. When manufacturers earn low levels of profits, the prospects of reinvestment in production and sustained industrial upgrading are negligible.     

Anti-Tamil Riots and the political crisis in Sri Lanka

Abstract

“Have a taste of Paradise” says the advertising blurb of Air Lanka, the national airline. But on July 24, 1983, the island paradise for tourists turned into a veritable hell for its Tamil-speaking inhabitants, with fire and smoke engulfing the capital city of Colombo. Within days, rioting spread throughout Sri Lanka in a wave of assaults against the Tamils in almost all the towns and plantation areas. For nearly a week, mob rule prevailed and lynching was the order of the day.     

斯里兰卡和平进程之我见

斯里兰卡种族问题是殖民主义统治的产物。独立后种族矛盾激化 ,并发展到国内战争。政府政策的偏差是其主要原因。目前正在进行的斯里兰卡政府与泰米尔猛虎组织之间的和平谈判取得重大进展 ,使人们看到了斯里兰卡和平的曙光 ,但也存在一些不确定因素。     

Coercive Policy Diffusion in a Developing Country: The Case of Public-Private Partnerships in Sri Lanka

Over the last two decades, public-private partnership policy has been adopted in developing countries to a lesser degree than in industrialised countries. This paper argues that this policy has been diffused to developing countries like Sri Lanka with coercion from international aid-granting organisations through conditionalities attached to financial assistance. It details the country-specific challenges faced by Sri Lanka in responding to conditionalities as it has sought to implement this policy. Drawing on policy diffusion theory the paper develops a framework to be used in analysing the issues under investigation.     

Proposals for a New Bill of Rights in Sri Lanka: Narrow Debates,Unmarked Challenges

ABSTRACT

This article makes two claims about the current proposals for reforming Sri Lankan’s fundamental rights chapter. One is that the complex challenges in seeking judicial enforcement of fundamental rights largely remain unmarked in the narrow and limited debates that have taken place on these proposals. Thus far, these proposals have attracted minimal debate and discussion except in relation to the judicial enforcement of economic and social rights. The second and related claim is that the transformational reach of the proposals is yet to be evaluated against Sri Lanka’s actual experiences in the enforcement of a Bill of Rights in its republican era. Critical reflection and debates that mark and engage the challenges posed by the current proposals for a new Bill of Rights are essential if these proposals are to be effective in implementation.     

Between Scylla and Charybdis: Social Media in Sri Lanka’s Constitutional Referendum

ABSTRACT

Social media use around those aged 18–34 will significantly impact the prospects for the public validation of a new constitution in Sri Lanka, especially the planning and conduct of a referendum. This paper examines key developments in the consumption of and perceptions around social media, and how a networked society within a context of democratic deficit and plunging faith in electoral processes can pose a greater risk for public faith in constitutional reform.     

Significant in Isolation: Sri Lanka’s Right to Information Regime in Enactment and Operation

ABSTRACT

Over 2015 and 2016, Sri Lanka enacted a comprehensive right to information (RTI) regime by constitutionally recognising the RTI and passing enabling legislation. Taking into account the context of the country’s political and bureaucratic culture, its history of RTI jurisprudence and repeated legislative attempts and the particularities of the enacted provisions themselves, this article argues that the RTI regime represents a significant constitutional advance in Sri Lanka. The regime’s operationalisation has unearthed a number of operational difficulties as well as promising advances, underscoring both the challenges and the potentials of effectively providing for the RTI. As one of the few governance reforms enacted by the national unity government, however, the RTI regime’s lone operation within a deficient and unreformed architecture of transparency and accountability places a particular and heavy burden on it, one which may also adversely impact its future sustainability.