PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT

A
talk given at ICES, 17th December 2014. Photo courtesy Al Jazeera.

by Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy - on 12/21/2014

I want to thank Mario and the family of

ICES for asking me to make this presentation on what should be the
priorities for the next president. There are of course many issues but I will
present what I think are the most important aspects.
To begin with, one has the debate which we have had since independence,
that which we see now emerging as well. There is one school of thought
that focuses on the economy and stability that is often called the J.R
mantra. They feel continuity and stability are intertwined and needed for
economic growth. There has always been another school of thought that
seeks to reform political institutions, democracy and rule of law as being
essential foundations on which all else is built. Marxists always believed in
what they termed was the base vs. super structure dichotomy and it was
their belief that the mode of production and the economy determined
everything else. For liberals the main focus has been on political institutions
and it was felt that the free market would take care of the economy.

The debate still rages even within my own family. My brother Indrajit
Coomaraswamy always quotes Bill Clinton to me, It is the economy
stupid. Well the Pathfinder organization with which he works has presented
a road map with economic priorities. There are some doubtful neo-liberal
recommendations but all in all, there are good recommendations and
maybe I should make a plug for my brother and their roadmap in this era of
nepotism.
However, for me at this particular juncture of our history, reforming politics,
political institutions and rule of law institutions are absolutely crucial along
with a change in our political culture. Without these reforms we are doomed
and the economy is also doomed. After all investors will only invest if they
feel politically secure.
Decay in our political institutions began long time ago. The era of the 1972
constitution began the process of politicization. The 1978 era introduced
systematic thuggery into our political fabric. Both contributed to the decline
in our rule of law institutions. But today there is no doubt in anybodys mind
that we have reached a real peak in the decay of our political and legal
institutions.
To remedy the situation we need to relook at our political and legal
institutions and take measures to reform our political culture.
CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION
My advice therefore to the next president is to immediately set up a
Constitutional Commission like in South Africa with someone like Professor
Christy Weeramantry as its chairperson, someone whose integrity cannot
be questioned. The election promises of the opposition if it comes to power
with regard to the executive presidency and the seventeenth amendment
along with a national unity government can be implemented immediately
but the Commission should be relied on to make the recommendations for
the rest of the Constitution. The process should be given a year or two as
this Commission should consult all groups, travel everywhere, and come up

with a consensus document where everyone in the country feels they have
ownership. What we lack in Sri Lanka is a constitution that is truly a social
contract. We have had constitutions usually imposed by political parties in
power, 1972 by SLPF and 1977 by the UNP. It is time we have something
that is not imposed either by colonial masters or our politicians. Despite all
the upheavals in India, South Africa and now in Tunisia, no group challenges
their Constitutions because they were drafted after a national democratic
process.
In this process of Constitution making we can address many of the current
issues,
Whether to abolish or modify the executive presidency. I think after what we
have experienced with the presidency for the last 20 years, all of us in this
room would want to reduce its power and allow parliament to be supreme.
But there is one area where there is concern. This is in a situation of crisis
with regard to national security- we dont want a stalemate in parliament to
deter effective action. In this regard this power should vest in the President
but there must be a requirement that he/she go to Parliament for approval
after a period of three weeks or so to ensure that this power is not used to
rule indefinitely.
Secondly, we need a strong parliament, not just a talking shop. Select
committees are used today to harass people, whether its NGOs or chief
justices. Instead what we really need is a technically competent Parliament
that has broad based consultations and hearings and gathers evidence to
create effective legislations. The technical development and the training of
parliamentarians should be a major priority
Thirdly we must have a strong and independent judiciary as well as
Commissions- the Human Rights Commission, the Public Service
Commission, the Police Commission and a Corruption Commission. Most of
all we must bring back the 17th I feel like I have a personal stake in this
17th amendment. It was the Youth Commission which I was a part of along
with Professor G.L. Pieries- that put forward the idea, first mooted by the
late Chanaka Amaratunga, of having something like a Nominations

Commission that will appoint judges and independent commissioners. I

remember we recommended that all the parties in parliament would agree
on the composition of this Nominations Commission. I remember the first
Nominations Commission when I was appointed the Human Rights
Chairperson; it was H.L De Silva who chaired that commission. Of course,
there were no women on that Commission, they were all grey suited men
but still it was a very powerful commission of people acceptable to all
parties in parliament. They then appointed all the members of the
independent Commissions and members of the Judiciary. The choice was
expected to be on merit alone. There is absolutely no doubt that this had a
very important impact. If you look back at the Police Commission of that
period, there was no violence during elections because the police did not
have the fear of being transferred or punished. They just did their job.
As I said above, to me it is absolutely imperative to have a strong, impartial
judiciary that has legitimacy in the eyes of the public; By the way, in our
present constitution like the 1972 Constitution, judicial power is exercised
by parliament through the courts. We have to go to a system where judicial
power is exercised by the courts and not through the parliament. They did
this in 1970s etc because they were afraid that vested interests would
prevent rapid development by using the judiciary. I dont think we are in a
situation like that now. Because there was no strong independent judiciary
we have no real strong human rights litigation in this country. There was a
period during the time of Justice Mark Fernando and Justice A.R.B
Amerasinghe when we did have some interesting litigation in the field of
detention and arrest, as well as the environment- some very fabulous world
class judgments by both of them. Except for that short period, and a few
other cases, the whole tradition which India has had of litigation on the
right to life and dignity and which South Africa has, we have not
experienced.
With regard to the North and East if you go through this kind of South
African process, we can also deal with the issues of the North and the east
within this framework so it does not become highlighted, separated and
tense. We would even have parties like the TNA and the JVP participating in
this process and speaking to each other as well as the public. I know there

is a lot of discussion out there about what is unitary- a red flag to the Tamil
parties, and what is federal a red flag to the Sinhalese- when all of us
lawyers know that we do not have to use any word, and that this is just the
spectrum. You can really structure an arrangement that satisfies Tamil
aspirations of autonomous self-government in their areas while meeting the
security fears of the Sinhalese. It is possible- all that stops us are fears,
prejudices and bottom line thinking. I was someone who worked closely
with Dr.Neelan Tiruchelvam, I know that it can be done; it can be structured
if we keep our minds open.
We also have to deal with the issues of end of war. We have to have a
credible truth and reconciliation process acceptable to all parties that leads
to justice and reparations. There is no going back on that and it is the only
way to meet our international obligations and to get rid of the international
spotlight.
Back to the constitution for one moment- for the women rights activists, we
are the only country in South Asia without a 30% quota for women in the
parliament or the local government- that is something that just has to be
done. The amount of women in our elected bodies is a true embarrassment
given the international experience and the fact that we have such a highly
educated woman population. In Sri Lanka we also have the personal laws of
the different communities that define womens private lives. We have been
pushing for what we would call a first step, an opt out provision. Couples on
the wedding day to be allowed to choose whether to be governed by the
personal loans or the general laws with regard to family and property law.
CHANGFING POLITICAL CULTURE
Besides the above changes to our Constitution, we have to realize that a lot
of our tragedy is not is structures but in the culture that has developed with
rapid globalization and thirty years of civil war. For example the statement
by minister S.B Dissanayake, the Minister of Higher Education on Chandrika
Kumaratunge is so outrageous that we dont have to go beyond that to say
too much about the state of our public culture.

We have to change the public culture around the rule of law. We have a
police who have got used to strong-arm tactics regardless of the
circumstances. I was the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission
when there was a ceasefire in the North and the East, when there was no
terrorism, and yet everyday people who stole bananas, or took drugs were
regularly beaten. So I started a zero tolerance on torture campaign and I
was really amused when the Sri Lankan government submissions to the
Human Rights Council in 2014, nearly ten years after I left, said that they
said that they have a zero tolerance strategy. But recently many human
rights groups have chronicled hideous kinds of torture against men and
women even after the war is over. I dont know whether this is true or not,
even if one of these cases is true, there is really horrific stuff going on. The
U.S Senate report shows that we are not the only country with this problem
but that report which is very introspective and frankly looks into the abuses,
clearly shows that torture is not only illegal or immoral but it just does not
work, it makes people make up stories and in the long term may actually be
counterproductive.
We also have to stop the culture of extra judicial killings. When I was the
chair of the Human Rights Commission, suddenly all these organized crime
individuals kept being killed. I asked the IGP of that time why this was sohe told me they were trying to escape. I asked him why they always escape
and then seem to run to the cemetery. We actually set up a judge to look
into these cases and the killing did stop. But it started up again after 2007.
It is not only Sri Lanka-. India, South East Asia and Bangladesh all have had
episodes of this, a new way of fighting organized crime- to have para
militaries brought in. But they have to be stopped for as Sri Lanka has
shown it is a slippery slope. Initially paramilitaries are used against
organized crime but if there is no tight oversight they can be ordered to
move against ordinary prisoners, dissenters, journalists, and then anyone
who criticizes the state. Once the state and individuals learn to kill with

impunity and without accountability, lawlessness spreads rapidly.

When we speak of the rule of law we also have to look at the quality of our
judges. The last judgment of the Supreme Court on the calling of
Presidential Elections was absolutely extraordinary. It takes the most
progressive ideas of civil liberties from people like Ronald Dworkin to justify
the most anti-democratic practice. The judgment is truly shocking and
perverse for anyone remotely familiar with constitutional law.
We really have to stop this culture of impunity and killing and replace it with
a culture of dialogue. In the Northeast, Prabhakaran introduced the culture
of killing over dialogue- we all know where that went. In the South I feel in
the last few years, we have entered a similar period. Both have resulted in
a very servile, fearful population. I must say in the North because there is
an ethnic dimension it has begun to resemble a situation of occupation. The
government can build a hundred roads but people do not like occupation.
People want respect, dignity and empathy.
The worst thing we have heard is that the present Jaffna army commander
has gone to Jaffna after two years of training in Israel. In the last two years I
have visited Jaffna and I have been to the West Bank and Gaza. Certain
aspects of Jaffna life do resemble Israeli Occupation. Every other person is
said to be an informer and everybody suspects everybody else of being an
informer and thats an Israeli practice. The army visits all the NGOs and
independent organizations at least once a month, checks their staff lists
and salaries. They are also present everywhere in civvies. You cant have a
party with over 25 people without them wanting to be there. This is just
what I the UPDF does in the West Bank. If anyone wants to know how
disastrous this policy is, see what happened in Gaza. People should see this
film where 5 previous heads of Mossad were interviewed about the past and
about the present situation. Each of them said that the present policy of the
Israeli government is absolutely self-destructive in dealing with the
Palestinian issue. So why have we decided to take this advice to deal with

the North and East?

The other side, TNA has also contributed to a culture of violence and
impunity. They never condemned the atrocities of the LTTE even if it was
directed at one of their own. There still remain a set of self-destructive
hardliners within the TNA and diaspora. Strangely since the 1960s the Tamil
political party motto has been boycott: Even before they read a
document, they were ready to boycott it. This type of political action is very
out of date, even Cuba has moved on. Todays mature political leaders
constructively engage and realize that nothing is given on a platter. You
have to work tirelessly to convince people. The Federal party or the TNA
only spoke to leaders of the UNP and SLPF, they never reached out to the
Sinhalese people not realizing that only the latter could put adequate
pressure on their parties to change their stance or be less fearful of a
Sinhala response. Therefore my New Year post election wish for the TNA is
to suggest that they visit the Mahanayakes a first step and after that
Sinhalese civil society groups and community groups. I really think its time
they reach out to the Sinhalese public.
Another major necessity of the future is SSR, UN jargon called Security
Sector Reform. To me this is the most important thing for any future
president. I have visited Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia and Philippinesempowered armies are a disaster for democracy, social inclusion and
participation. The army doing economic activities in those countries I have
mentioned makes them have vested interests in political and economic
policies. They also develop a thirst for economic resources as they have
done in the North and the East. Further, they provide unequal competition
for the private sector because they have suppressed wages. With regards to
the army doing civilian work, even the army rank and file do not like it. I
spoke to some security sector personnel in Victoria Park and they hate it.
Besides this type of activity disempowers the civilian administration and
again lowers the wages of the civilian population. So SSR reform is a must.

The economic initiatives of the army must be sold to the private sector or
spun off. There must also be a strong and comprehensive demobilization
program for army personnel- perhaps spread over four years. There are
examples from all over the world where security sector personnel receive
training and education and are sent into civilian life as graduates and
entrepreneurs. The Kotelawala Defence Academy that seems to get more
and more resources and departments can be the center for this DDR
process.
There is this idea that is constantly mooted by the government that we
need a strong army to deal with LTTE threat. I agree with Sumanthiran who
recently said in Jaffna that the violent era is over, it will never gain traction
in the North and the threat is just hype by the government. What is
happening though is that elements of the Diaspora and LTTE hard liners are
now trying to force Sri Lanka to have a Scottish style referendum. So any
future LTTE attack will not be military it will be political. It is completely
counterproductive to have Israeli type tactics in the North. You have to
politically win the hearts and the minds of the people in the North so that if
there is ever a referendum, like Scotland, they will vote to stay in the Union.
Remember that a referendum is something that the international
community may support if things get really bad. I think we really have to
take stock of what is going on in the North and the East and stop treating
the Tamil population as a permanently hostile community that needs
occupation.
So finally let me say that this is a definitive election. It is not about
individuals who cross over, or political gossip. It is about systems,
structures and visions for the future of a modern Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka of
course the Arab Spring is discredited because of Egypt and everything is of
course seen as a CIA plot. But if you look at Tunisia where the Arab Spring
actually began it has been a success. The Islamic Brotherhood, led by
mature leaders, actually gave up power to the President to guide the

writing of a new Constitution-the result is a fabulous state of the art

constitution that everyone agreed to. Tunisia had free and fair nonviolent
elections after that and though there are problems, it has become a vibrant,
exciting creative place where nobody is afraid. The economy too is
booming.
I will end this intervention with a story. A friend of mine was visiting one of
Sri Lankas leading film directors last week. She was sitting there when this
film directors daughter called from abroad and pleaded with him not to get
involved in politics saying that she was so very afraid for him. My friend
heard the director reply, Duwa dont you understand, that is what Im
fighting for- I am fighting to remove your fear.
Thank you.
Posted by Thavam