With the enactment of the Twentieth Amendment, Sri Lanka embarks yet again down the fraught path of authoritarian presidentialism. Whether this latest adventure ends in a democratic nightmare, or is as fleeting…
The government has taken steps to draft a new constitution for Sri Lanka, which is likely to replace the existing constitution , including its recently passed 20th Amendment. Thus, a Third Republican…
S. P. Huntington has presciently warned that democratic transitions are vulnerable and reversible if ruling elites do not show genuine commitment to democratic values. He argues: “When they are out of power,…
Building on the award-winning Corridors of Power project, Frames of Power is a pioneering, non-partisan initiative for citizens to interactively model perceptions of political authority and approaches to constitutional power. The production…
Following parliamentary elections, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wasted no time in obtaining cabinet approval and thereafter gazetting the proposed 20th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. Many commentators have noted how…
Photo Courtesy of Midday The proposed 20th Amendment has several major defects. One of its key faults is that its sponsors and framers have chosen a very wrong approach to constitution making….
Concern is growing, at home and internationally, about increasing unwillingness among leaders – especially the president – to accept checks on the power exercised over the people of Sri Lanka. “I am…
“If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.” — Ramsay, Articles penned on recently by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Asanga Welikala and Gehan Gunatilleke as well as elsewhere, by…
Déjà vu? Once upon a time, a mighty government with a two-thirds majority in parliament engaged in political opportunism, and radically changed the constitution of Sri Lanka. It ignored more than a…
As the Twentieth Amendment Bill is brought before Parliament – and challenged in the Supreme Court – there are two critical sets of questions we need to seriously consider. These are, firstly,…
Photo courtesy of Sri Lanka Brief The Rajapakse Administration, by Government gazette, published its proposed 20th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution and subsequently the Secretary General of Parliament announced that it would…
Photo courtesy of Twitter Think of it as the Rajapaksa fairy tale. Mother Lanka is captured by the messy and wobbly monster called Democracy. The Rajapaksa brothers and sons rescue her by…
The debate on the proposed 20th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s 1978 Constitution is gathering momentum. The proposal which has been published in the Government Gazette is indeed a constitutional bombshell, literally. Its…
At the ceremonial opening of our first Parliament on 4th February, 1948 Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike addressed the nation with these words: “It is true that no people can live…
Photo courtesy New Indian Express The 20th Amendment to the Constitution Bill (20A) has been published. If I were to describe it in one sentence the 20th Amendment seeks to take the…
