“I authorise and give up my right of governing myself to this man, or to this assembly of men, on this condition; that thou give up, thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like manner…” And he that carryeth this person is called sovereign, and said to have sovereign power; and every one besides, his subject. – Thomas Hobbes, <\/i>The Leviathan<\/p>\n\n
If you happened to be in the vicinity of Ault Hucknall, England earlier today and felt the Earth move slightly, there is no cause for alarm; it was just Hobbes shifting in his grave. I’ll leave it to the theorists to figure out in which direction.<\/p>\n\n
The Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 18th Amendment<\/a> to the country’s Constitution, essentially codifying absolute power in the Executive. What else do you call it when term limits are removed and the election commission’s appointment is moved to the executive branch? Right. It swings the balance just a nooooooodge in favor of the incumbent (not that the election commission seems to have much by way of teeth anyway).<\/p>\n\n In addition to facing no term limits, the President now gets to appoint (after considering the “observations” of the Prime Minister, the Speaker, and opposition leaders):<\/p>\n\n The Election Commission The Chief Justice and the Judges of the Supreme Court The Attorney-General Since the 17th Amendment<\/a> in 2000, the appointment of all of the above had been the responsibility of the Constitutional Council<\/b>, which was comprised of the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, one person appointed by the President, five persons appointed by the President on the nomination of both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, and one person nominated upon agreement by the majority of other political parties in Parliament. The President could not appoint anyone to these posts without recommendation from the Council.<\/p>\n\n The 18th amendment does away with the Constitutional Council and moves all of these appointments into the President’s hands, providing that he consults some of the members of the Constitutional Council first.<\/p>\n\n In an interview with the New York Times, former UN ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka said, “It is a constitutionalization of the wartime presidency.” The problem, of course, is that Sri Lanka is no longer at war. Instead of replacing the perpetual State of Emergency with democracy, and implementing regional autonomy, Sri Lanka now finds itself on the constitutional dictatorship train, and it’s left the station.<\/p>\n\n For a much more comprehensive look at the 18th Amendment, what it means, and actions in response, please read Groundviews. You can start here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n — “I authorise and give up my right of governing myself to this man, or to this assembly of men, on this condition; that thou give up, thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like manner…” And he that … Continue reading
\nThe Public Service Commission
\nThe National Police Commission
\nThe Human Rights Commission
\nThe Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption\nThe Finance Commission
\nThe Delimitation Commission (draws electoral district boundaries)<\/p>\n\n
\nThe President and Judges of the Court of Appeal
\nThe Members of the Judicial Serviec Commission, other than the Chairman<\/p>\n\n
\nThe Auditor-General
\nThe Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman)
\nThe Secretary-General of Parliament<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This post was written in a hurry. Please point out any factual errors and I’ll correct them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"