The writer is prompted to pen this article having read an excerpt from a recent article on ‘System change’ in the national press by an erudite personality – “The aragalaya (the public movement that sought the resignation of the previous Government led by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa) youth shouted ‘No 225 (a reference to Parliamentarians)’ and agitated for system change. But, what is the new system going to be? No one has so far put out a blueprint or even a skeletal description of what the new system should be.”
He may be right to the extent that several leading professional organisations and collectives including prominent civil activists and politicians who vehemently supported the historic ‘peaceful youth aragalaya’, unceremoniously dropped the baton for ‘system changes’ clamoured for by the new generation, for reasons best known to them.
However, the writer, as a sovereign voter, has consistently submitted updated proposals with a detailed methodology and benefits on the much-hyped ‘system changes’ to our political and electoral systems since 2017. These include those on ‘Guaranteeing the equality of the vote and the quality of our representatives, before holding any election’, ‘Heed the proposals of sovereign voters at least now’, ‘System changes prior to the next General Election to further avoid the curse of the ‘225’’, ‘Open letter to peaceful and intelligent protestors on ‘system changes’ to remove the curse of the 225’, ‘Fast-track critical system changes in the electoral system and hold any election’, ‘Follow-up open letter to the peaceful and intelligent youth of the ‘aragalaya’ on critical ‘system changes’ prior to the next election’, the ‘Need of the hour is to find specific solutions and implement them with a sense of urgency’, ‘Can we hold ‘free and fair’ elections without ‘system changes’?’, ‘A bankrupt country demands urgent system changes to ensure genuine free and fair elections’, ‘Aren’t citizens entitled to propose and enforce ‘system changes’?’, ‘Educating voters: Demanding a genuine, simple electoral system is a social responsibility’, ‘The pathway to a voter friendly, meritocratic p roportional representation electoral system and a people based governance with a rationalised political administration structure’, ‘Manifestoes of Presidential candidates demand political and electoral system changes’, ‘Can we let the aragalaya’s visionary ‘system changes’ wither away?’, and ‘A voter’s alternative to preferential voting and the mixed member voting system’. Furthermore, the writer published an updated electronic booklet with a foreword from an erudite personality in both Sinhala and English, freely available on request, to improve the political and electoral literacy of our sovereign voters at this critical juncture.
It is noteworthy that the ‘system change’-related proposals of the writer were submitted to the Cabinet appointed Committee of Legal Experts, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms and the recently appointed Presidential Commission, all of whom acknowledged receipt. They were also submitted to all the relevant Government authorities such as the national Election Commission (EC) and the Commissioner of Elections, not forgetting voter dedicated organisations such as the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections, and the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence and well-known academics and civil activists.
The writer’s updated summaries of crucial ‘system change’ packages relating to our flawed and outdated political and electoral systems are given below, for a people based governance, through a rationalised political administration system.
- Abolish the Executive Presidency from a specified date through a referendum and elect a non-Executive President with limited powers, from three-five candidates proposed by a special panel, with voting by MPs and Provincial Councilors. The post will have the powers to appoint and direct Provincial Governors to ensure the execution of the relevant Parliament approved Acts/laws/budgets/ programmes within specified time frames. To appoint the non-Executive President in a timely manner, hold the General and Provincial Council (PC) Elections and the relevant referendum too on the same day.
Option I - People to elect an Executive President as an independent statesman sans dictatorial powers, subject to judicial review under robust eligibility criteria and terms such as high cash deposits; Failing which,
Option II - Support the best candidate under the existing system, who as per his/her election manifesto, will ensure legalising specific new generation electoral ‘system changes’ within six months to enable the upcoming General and PC Elections and other specified ‘system changes’ including the abolition of the Executive Presidency within 18 months of appointment.
2. Objectively strengthen the PCs with additional powers if necessary, to forge Sri Lankan-ness and to rationalise the role and benefits of MPs.
3. Depoliticise Local Government Elections to ensure an unbiased and uncorrupt service to the people through the election of suitable ‘independent’ candidates in the locality as per the ‘Grama Raajya’ concept, with the formation of ‘Jana Sabhas’ at the Grama Niladhari Division level, as proposed by the National Movement for Social Justice, where low cost elections can be conducted by Divisional Secretaries.
4. Install a ‘sustainable national Cabinet of Ministers’ system to foster ‘Sri Lankan-ness’ by allocating portfolios to seat-winning parties based on their national vote percentage at a General Election. The same percentage method is to be adopted for allocating Provincial portfolios.
The summary of crucial ‘system changes’ to the electoral system to be legalised before General and PC Elections
1. Ensure ‘equality of the ballot’ as per the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) to foster ‘Sri Lankan-ness/fairness/rationality’ by allocating seats to parties based simply on their national vote percentage.
2. Abolish the existing preferential voting and mixed member voting systems and require parties to enter their District nominees under electorate level sub-lists in merit order, thus enabling the election of at least one MP from each electorate while protecting the ‘equality of the ballot’. Parties contesting less than say 10 Districts, are to submit a central pool list (as earlier adopted by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) in merit order to the EC.
3. Mandate common eligibility criteria and a structured Interview marking system for all contesting parties/groups to guarantee the nomination of public cleared, genuine, ‘country-first political professionals’, in merit order (the methodology is prepared) .
4. Ensure female and youth representation (20% each) in the Parliament/PCs, by mandating at least one woman and one youth below 35 years among every five persons in all electorate/central pool nominee lists in merit order. The interview system is to provide special marks.
5. Stipulate specific criteria and methodology for the District-wise nomination of 29 erudite National List MPs, reflecting the multi-community population ratios. Since they were intended to substitute for the Senate abolished in 1972, unelected candidates are disqualified.
6. Brand the ‘five-year party election manifesto’ as a prosecutable document with a monitorable, time-lined five-year action plan, convincing the voter to accept it as the primary determinant for a wise voting decision.
7. Party head offices to deal with the total ‘campaign expenditure’ at the electorate level and be answerable to the authorities as per the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act, No. 3 of 2023.
8. Discourage the registration of ‘mushroom/unscrupulous/decoy’ political parties via stringent eligibility and high cash deposit requirements.
9. Abolish the ‘cross-over’ mockery and allow vacancies to be filled by the corresponding name/s from the relevant registered merit list.
10. Hold the General and PC Elections and relevant referenda, if any, on the same day to ensure the cost effectiveness of the system. An electronic voting system would greatly assist.
11. Constitutionally, restore the lost supremacy of the people, caused by the gross plundering of their sovereignty with impunity by politicians, becoming ‘demigods’ and making the people their helpless devotees, by:
i) Preventing all people’s representatives from involving in all matters relevant to their selection process, Salary/ benefits, etc., smacking of glaring ‘conflicts of interest’;
ii) Widening the scope of the EC and the Public Service Commission/Salaries and Cadre Commission to table their final recommendations in regard to all of i) above, in the Parliament, only for formal approval, and;
iii) Strengthening the Commissions mentioned under ii) above and the other relevant commissions with permanent task forces comprised of retired judges, academics, dedicated civil organisations and voter activists, extending the ‘people based governance’.
12. The new non-Executive President is to prioritise the approval of the above critical ‘system changes’ before any future election, through a petition to the Supreme Court calling for a people’s referendum. If it fails, resort to the approved provisions under item 11 above.
Final note
It is crucial that our patriotic mass media including social media, religious leaders, voter dedicated organisations, the Bar Association, the intelligentsia, trade unions and civil society activists bring the country under one banner and guide the sovereign voters with enhanced voter literacy, to elect a short term Executive President for a final period of two years, to genuinely deliver all the said ‘system changes’ in his/her manifesto.
Consequently, our country will emerge from this deep financial, economic and cultural abyss and forge towards a peaceful, secure and prosperous future, facing rapidly changing global advancements and geo-political challenges.
If there is a will, there is a way.
(The writer is a former Deputy General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon)
–---------------------------------------------------------------------
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication