Constitution building

Saturday, 9 January 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

At the end of an eventful week Sri Lanka has a chance to look back and consider the gains it has made in the past year as it attempts to push ahead with a potentially difficult Constitution building process that could well decide whether the country will proceed as a peaceful nation.

A year ago former President Mahinda Rajapaksa appeared unbeatable. Even though cracks were appearing in his popularity there was concern they would not be wide enough to result in victory for the Common Candidate. These assumptions were proven wrong when President Sirisena was sworn in with a victory of more than 400,000 votes. It was a historic occasion not just because a new head of State had been elected but also because the population of Sri Lanka had made a joint decision to pull the country back from the brink of intolerance and corruption in an unprecedented display of electoral intelligence.

This communal convergence that united all ethnicities, genders, regions and people was unexpected because it came in defiance of a deeply embedded narrative of greed, pride, egos and power gathering together to form the possibility of another terrible episode in Sri Lanka’s already chequered history. If the Rajapaksa administration was not already a dictatorship it was certainly a sliver of time away from such and the people were getting desperate for change. But achieving change cannot be done in one election; it is a process that requires constant vigilance and redefining of expectations.

Today the parliament will consider a resolution to allow parliament to sit as a Constitutional Assembly to formulate a new Constitution. Other countries in South Asia such as Nepal have tinkered with the Constitution making demon, sacrificing years and economic opportunities in an exercise that spawned deep political divisions. Sri Lanka’s optimistic attempt at Constitution making has to be communicated clearly to both the members of Government and the people. If this crucial element of transparency and open dialog is lost then the Constitution making process could well overhang the gains made in January 2015.

A new Constitution begins with the promise of creating an equal Sri Lanka. Such a hefty task also has to change the hearts and minds of people who are still part of a narrative that makes them insecure or unappreciated, depending on whether they are part of the majority or minority. Politicians are already attempting to make use of the exercise as a bid to create two States. It is only through repeated and open engagement with the public that such definitions can be ruled out. Fear of being flayed by nationalist parties should also not push lawmakers to shy away from progressive policies that will go beyond the provisions already available in the existing Constitution.

Making a Constitution is just one part of change. Real change, one can argue, is in its implementation. Many progressive elements in the existing Constitution against corruption, hate speech and other forms of extremism are routinely ignored by parliamentarians, law enforcement officials and the judicial system. The people have done their part. It is now for the leaders to achieve the goals that have been set before them. The new Constitution has to be the foundation of a genuinely peaceful Sri Lanka.