USA: Separation of powers saves the day

The extraordinary developments playing out in the capital of the United States of America, and its Capitol Hill where its Congress (Parliament) sits are reverberating throughout the democratic world. It was in our issue of November 8 last year that we said that "wild horses may not drag him ( the defeated, outgoing President of USA) from the White House in January when he has to make way for his successor". His Presidency has collapsed like a house of cards with the House of Representatives impeaching him for the second time for his high handed conduct, a schism within his once blindly loyal cabal of high-ranking supporters, and the "mob" as he later called the rabble he instigated to storm the Congress building facing criminal charges.

Those crazy scenes in Washington DC last week televised around the world shattered the image of the US as a country that peacefully changes Governments. The country became a target of ridicule and was mocked for preaching electoral processes to others. But its political institutions quickly rebounded. The foundation on which the country is founded, the ‘Separation of Powers’ ensured normalcy prevailed.

These were events that Sri Lanka is familiar with. Not long ago ( 2018), a power- drunk Executive President sacked his Prime Minister unconstitutionally and Members of Parliament created pandemonium in the sanctum sanctorum of the Legislature, so much so that some called it a parliament of hell, no different to the drama in Washington. Some of them are 'Honourable' Ministers today and the then President escaped an impeachment he otherwise richly deserved. It was the ‘ Separation of Powers’, and an independent Supreme Court in Sri Lanka that stabilised the country from a near state of anarchy at the time.

The unceremonious departure of the US President by next week does not, however, bode well for the Government in Sri Lanka. No doubt, protocol will demand the standard congratulatory messages to the incoming US President. As we said on November 8, while the defeated Republicans give priority to doing business on a "what's in it for us" basis, the incoming Democrats like to preach abroad, the advocacy of human rights and democracy as their North Star of foreign policy however hypocrisy personified it is.

America’s re-entry to UN agencies like the UN Human Rights Council means that a resolution against Sri Lanka that hangs like a Sword of Damocles will get new life for certain. Our front page stories today indicate how the Government intends meeting this challenge. Nevertheless, the new Administration in Washington is expected to restore some sanity to that country and herald a steadying period in a time of global crisis.