Inclusive Representation Required In Sri Lanka's Decision-Making Bodies
Jehan Perera
There has been a trend of President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa making senior appointments in which those who are outside the
established administrative systems are being brought in to provide leadership
and ensure effective and non-corrupt practices. As a large number of these
appointments have been from the security forces this has given rise to a
perception that the country is heading towards eventual military rule. There is
a concern that the forthcoming general elections will be followed by
constitutional changes that will entrench the military in governance as in some
other countries such as Myanmar. This is unlikely to be the case in Sri Lanka
as democratic traditions upholding civilian control of government are deeply
ingrained in the fabric of political society.
A more positive view would focus on the dilemma
that President Rajapaksa is facing. He was elected in the hope that he would
bring a change to the corrupt governance of the past in which political leaders
failed to keep their commitments. The country is facing unprecedented
challenges today for which the president cannot be held responsible. The
foremost of these is the Covid-induced economic downturn which has driven large
numbers into unemployment and debilitated the economy. The president’s harsh
upbraiding of Central Bank officials was due to his recognition that the
government was not being provided with solutions to revive the economy.
Among the president's reasons for appointing a
host of serving and retired security forces personnel to positions of authority
within the state administrative system is to put a stop to corruption and to
promote efficiency within the state sector. Years of heavy investment in the
security forces due to the war has made the security forces personnel better
trained and more used to staying within the administrative system. This is
especially in comparison to their counterparts in the public service which has
got over extended due to politically motivated appointments which has swelled
their ranks.
Ethnic Composition
There are however reasons for the concerns about
the lack of minority representation in the new and ad hoc institutions of
governance. A functioning parliament could have represented the ethnic,
religious, social and economic diversity of the country's people and their
needs and aspirations. If sections of the people feel that they are not being
included in decision making, and that decisions being made exclude them, there
can grow an alienation of heart and mind that cannot be stopped by more
security measures and more intelligence gathering alone. Earlier this month,
the president appointed two separate Presidential Task Forces, one to build a
Secure Country, Disciplined, Virtuous and Lawful Society, and a second for
Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province.
Both of these task forces are dominated by
members drawn from the security forces and have wide mandates. Both of them are
also chaired by Defense Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne. The Defense
Secretary has said the role of the Presidential Task Forces (PTFs) has been
misinterpreted. He emphasized that he has not been empowered to bring under his
control public officials, other than those at the Ministry of Defense, nor did
he wish to do so. He explained that the PTFs in question only exist to get the
assistance of the public officials to ensure the national security of the
country. With regard to the PTF on the Eastern province he said, "We need to
secure our country's heritage and protect it for our future generations, that's
why the President established this Task Force following a request made by the
Buddhist Sangha. We don't limit this protection to Buddhist and archaeological sites,
we will protect sites of all communities, may they be Hindu, Islamic or another
religion."
The task force on Archaeological Heritage
Management in the Eastern Province has been mandated to identify sites of
archaeological importance in the Eastern Province and identify the extent of
land that should be allocated for such archaeological sites and take necessary
measures to allocate them properly and legally. The Defense Secretary asserted
that "We are sensitive not to create issues between communities or on religious
grounds, our first priority is to create the climate for the archaeological
department to carry out their duties without any interference. They are tasked
with identifying all sites of archaeological importance and get the sites
surveyed with the assistance of the survey department." However, the problem is
with the ethnic and religious composition of the task force which has no
minority representation although the Eastern province has a population that is
over 75 percent Tamil and Muslim.
More Representation
There are many unresolved issues that Sri Lanka
needs to deal with in the future in order to become a truly peaceful and
socially cohesive country. The issues of ethnic and religious representation in
decision making bodies and of history have been divisive ones in the country
starting from the debate over which ethnic and religious community was here
first and which has the claim of ownership of the country or part thereof to
that of devolution of power and the nature of the state. History has been used
by politicians as a rallying point for promotion of nationalism and ethnic
pride as well as the creation of enemies who need to be kept at bay. History is
also important because it gives legitimacy to claims over land, which is important
to both individuals who own the land and to communities who seek to be dominant
in those parts.
All of these issues are burning ones in the case
of the Eastern province, which is the only province in the country in which no
one ethnic or religious community is an outright majority. Therefore, changes
in the population composition of the Eastern province have consequences that go
beyond those in other provinces. In addition, the Eastern province is part of
the territory that Tamil nationalists have claimed as the Tamil homeland along
with the Northern province, and for which the LTTE fought to create an
independent state of Tamil Eelam. Within the Eastern province is also the
Ampara district which together with Trincomalee is only one of two in the country
in which the Muslims are the single largest community.
In the aftermath of the thirty year war against
Tamil separatism in 2009 and the Easter bombing by suicide bombers from the
Muslim community influenced by international Islamic ideologies in 2019, the
containment of extremist ethnic and religious minority influence seems to have
become an important part of state policy. It is in this political context that
land is being transferred from minority usage to be used to protect ancient
archaeological sites. In Pottuvil, in the Ampara district, the dispute over the
Muhudu Maha Vihara temple land could increase in intensity as it has the
potential to lead to the displacement of Muslim communities living in the
contested areas. The presidential task force that has been appointed for the
purpose of problem solving in the Eastern province needs to have Muslim and
Tamil representation, and in more than token numbers, if its recommendations
are to be seen as based on objective truth and unbiased.