Notebook of a nobody
By Shanie
We have captured all the positions
And on the heights we have planted
The banners of our revolution
You imagined that that was all we wanted
We need more
We want all
Your hearts are our goal
It is your souls we want.
A fascist regime requires more than outward obedience to its commands; it seeks to control the inner person, to shape thoughts, feelings and attitudes in accordance with its own ideology. It demands total allegiance and submission. It was this goal that was expressed by an anonymous Nazi poet in the words quoted above. The Third Reich was organised on the basis that the leader (the Fuehrer) embodied and expressed the will of the German people and commanded their supreme loyalty. A Nazi political theorist stated at that time: “The authority of the Fuehrer is total and all-embracing…..The Fuehrer’s authority is subject to no checks or controls; it is circumscribed by no ….individual rights; it is ….overriding and unfettered.”
Sri Lanka has had a long history of liberal democracy; the authoritarianism of the present political system is of recent origin. We were one of first countries in the world to introduce full universal suffrage in 1931, with every adult citizen having an equal and unfettered right to elect a representative to the country’s legislature. Even out then colonial rulers had introduced full universal suffrage only three years earlier. These liberal democratic principles were enshrined in our 1931 Donoughmore Constitution as well as in Soulbury Constitution which we adopted for independent Ceylon in 1947. Both Constitutions were drafted by the colonial rulers. The 1947 Constitution was contained in a White Paper presented by the colonial government passed by the then State Council.
The values of a liberal democracy – a free and vibrant Media, an independent Public Service, Police and Judiciary, free and fair Elections – were gradually being eroded in independent Ceylon. At the 1970 Election, the United Front had secured a two-third majority in Parliament. They promptly set about drafting a new Constitution basically on their own terms. The views of the minorities and the opposition were given little credence but the essentials of a liberal democratic government were still retained – though the abolition of institutions like the Public Services Commission and bringing the public services directly under the political authorities has led to the politicisation of these institutions.
But worse was to come when at the 1977 Election, the UNP also secured a two-third majority and proceeded to draft yet another new constitution. That Constitution created the monster of the Executive Presidency with authoritarian powers similar to what the Fuehrer enjoyed in the Third Reich. The President’s authority is also total and all-embracing with no checks and balances and is not circumscribed by any individual or group rights for the citizens. J R Jayewardene once famously boasted about powers – that he enjoyed total authority and the only power he lacked was to make a man a woman. Presidents who came after him, including the present incumbent, have acknowledged the absurdity of investing the Head of State in a democracy with the authoritarian powers of a Nazi dictatorship. But once comfortably ensconced in position, they have not only been reluctant to let go these powers, but have happily exercised them, even blatantly violating the provisions of the Constitution, knowing they enjoyed legal immunity. It must however be said to the credit of President Chandrika Kumaratunga that she was the only President who had the vision and the courage to bring forward in 2000, soon after her re-election to a second term, constitutional proposals to abolish the Executive Presidency. Sadly, this was lost in controversy over her devolution proposals brought up after consensus had been reached. But that is another story.
The need for constitutional reform
Island for more