Doing away with the trappings of democracy

My dear JR,

I thought of writing to you because, had you been with us, you would have celebrated your 114th birthday last week. Hardly anyone remembered, but it's not because you haven’t left a legacy. In fact, you can be happy that you have left an enduring legacy - the Constitution you drafted for Paradise.

You are being remembered on a daily basis these days, because the Constitution you imposed on us, which was designed to make you king, is being revived in a hurry. No one will be able to stop that unless, of course, five wise men on the bench of the highest court in the land decide otherwise.

We recall you boasting years ago that the only thing you couldn’t do under your Constitution was to make a man a woman, and a woman a man. With the new changes they are proposing, Gota maama may even be able to do that. Why, they have already sent a murder convict to Parliament!

With all those powers at your disposal, you too were not the great democrat that you claimed to be. You may have opened our economy, diverted the Mahaveli and taken the first steps to make Paradise a modern nation. However, that came at a cost. The price we paid was losing our democratic values.

Using your Constitution, you showed us how it could be used for your advantage. First, you used a commission appointed by you to strip Sirima of her civic rights - and that led to a split of the Blue party. Then, you also obtained undated letters of resignation from all your Members of Parliament.

After having complained about Sirima postponing elections for two years, you went on to postpone elections for six years by holding a controversial referendum. Why, there was even the time when you manipulated events so much so that there were two MPs for the single electorate of Kalawana!

Preme, who succeeded you, and Dearly Beloved who had to suddenly step into his shoes, both didn’t have the time to tinker with your Constitution, but all the Blue leaders who followed - Satellite, Mahinda maama and Cheerio Sirisena - all promised to abolish your office, but none of them did.

Satellite set a date for the abolition and a rathu sahodaraya withdrew from an election because of that. Mahinda maama promised twice to modify the powers of that office. Cheerio Sirisena was only elected to abolish the office and pledged to do so beside Sobhitha haamuduruwo’s mortal remains.

Yet, here we are, 42 years after you enacted your Constitution, with Gota maama now in charge, discussing ways and means of strengthening your office and giving him more powers than even what you had. He has got a two-thirds majority to do so.

What strikes me as odd is that a majority of MPs voted for an 18th Amendment to your Constitution that gave more powers to Mahinda maama. It allowed him to run for the highest office any number of times and got rid of the independent commissions that were introduced in the 17th Amendment. Then, most of the same MPs - except one - got together five years later and voted for the 19th Amendment which curtailed all those powers and made the big boss accountable to Parliament. That was when the Blue and Greens worked together briefly and Cheerio Sirisena hadn’ t lost his marbles.

Now, another five years later, most of the same MPs are getting together and telling us why we should reverse almost all of the changes made in the 19th Amendment. I am confused by all this, JR. Is it that these people treat the masses as if they are asses, or is it that we elect assess to represent us?

It is ironical, JR, that you devised your Constitution which had many other tricks such as the proportional representation system to ensure the Greens could stay in power forever. At that time, the Blues, though depleted in Parliament, howled in protest saying it was a dictatorship in the making.

Now, more than 40 years later, Gota maama is tinkering with the Constitution and arming himself with dozens of additional powers, so the ‘ R’ family could stay in power forever. The Greens are out of the picture but its breakaway telephone outfit is protesting that GR is about to become another JR!

So, JR, unless those five men on the bench have the courage to decide wisely, you can be assured that your legacy is safe. You may not have streets, airports and cricket grounds named after you, but as long as your Constitution is desired by those who are in power at the time, we will not forget you! Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: During your time, Preme said he was a mere ‘ peon’. If the 20th Amendment becomes law, it appears that Mahinda maama will be reduced to a peon too. Some say that is why he running around trying to save cattle from slaughter. The cattle, at least, have got the government they deserve!