BISHOPS IN METHODISM

 THE COMPLICATIONS  OF MAKING THE SAME INDIVIDUAL AS 

HEAD OF STATE AND HEAD OF GOVERNMENT

On the 9th of July 2022, the people’s struggle against the Rajapaksha regime took a different turn. The President’s House, President’s Secretariat and the Temple Trees Residence were taken over by the people without an armed struggle. It made the Rajapaksha dynasty tremble and run into hiding. With these happenings, the countrymen have to take stock of what should be changed to avert a repeat of history. Very particularly we have to now process and identify the failures in the constitution of our country.

 In this article, the focus is on one of the major complications that have been encountered in having an Executive President who is both the head of the State and the Government. Before the 1978 Constitution, we had two separate persons as heads of the state and the government. With the personal preferences of late J. R. Jayawardena to make himself an Executive President the two positions of head of state and head of Government were amalgamated in the 1978 constitution. It has paved the way to create a dictatorial President who holds exceeding powers as the Head of State and Head of Government.  

The Sri Lankan political culture

In the Sri Lankan context, the people have always desired a person or a family to be in continuous political power. The people pay great attention and attach high priority to them. The celebrity factor plays a heavy role in this. We have also seen how politicians or families have manipulated the sincerity of the people to make their political ambitions capture and abuse political power. In such a framework and setting it is very dangerous to invest two positions of power in one person. When an unprincipled and corruptible person is invested in both positions, head of state and head of government it can cause great harm as we see happening in Sri Lanka now. 

 The problem with an Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka

At present Sri Lanka is saddled with an executive President who is elected through a Presidential Election. Because of this he or she has become the most powerful political figure in the country since 1978. Except for the ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksha, all other Executive Presidents have had a political journey over several years through the Parliamentary System. Because of the debate concerning the ill effects of the Executive Presidency, some have come into power with the promise of abolishing the executive Presidency but never fulfilled the promise. It is the 19th amendment to the constitution during the Presidency of Maithripala Sirisena, wings were clipped to some extent of the executive Presidency. 

Since 1978 the Executive President of Sri Lanka is the Head of State and the Head of Government. Using the executive powers as the head of the Government he or she has made certain decisions that have disturbed good governance practices. The parliamentary system has suffered at the hands of an Executive President. i.e. The power to prorogate the Parliament meetings by a unilateral decision of the President with no consultation with the Prime Minister nor the Parliament has truncated the legislating process at very crucial times. 

The mistake of electing a non-politician as Head of State and Head of Government - the Executive President  

President Gotabaya is not a politician. First, he served as a military officer who later retired during the war. Secondly, he became a government servant by holding an administrative post – Secretary for Defense. It is a post that was usually held by a senior hand of the Administrative Services of Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, during the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksha, precedence was created in appointing Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksha (with no administrative services experience) as Secretary for Defense. Very unfortunately 6.9 million people misidentified Gotabaya Rajapaksha as suitable to be the Head of State and the Head of Government – Executive President. His inexperience in administration messed up things both for himself and the country. 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksha, using the executive powers as Head of Government has been appointing retired military officers as Secretaries to various Ministries and key administrative positions of the government. This has disconsolate the qualified senior personnel of the Sri Lanka Administrative Services who were more qualified and experienced to hold such posts. 

The overnight decision to convert to organic farming with no prior preparation is another decision President Gotabaya made as the head of Government. Cabinet members at that time are now complaining that they had no space to debate and weigh the pros and cons of the said decision. It was not even debated in Parliament before implementing it. The entire agricultural set up in Sri Lanka has collapsed due to this decision which was made without heeding the advice of the professionals and the farmers. 

If the President was only the Head of State and not the Head of Government such dictatorial decisions would not have been made

 

Splitting the celebrity role from the executive role 

Taking into consideration the conflict of interest in having one person holding the Head of State and Head of Government our constitution needs to be changed. Two persons holding the two offices is a huge safety factor for our nation’s good governance. 

Head of State: 

 The Head of State should hold very little political authority to govern. As the first citizen of the state, his role should be seen as a “celebrity role”. The head of state need not necessarily be a politician and he or she could even be a person of great acceptance in society. Such a person can be elected by the Parliament without holding a Presidential Election for the country which is a great saving. The role of the Head of State should be primarily representative, He should be considered a symbol of unity and integrity of the state. He also can act as the symbol of the nation for the international community, receiving and hosting ambassadors, and foreign heads of state from different countries.

Head of Government: 

Sri Lanka follows a parliamentary system with a Prime Minister who is normally the leader of his political party. Therefore, he can be considered the Head and the Executive arm of the Government. He can deal with the law-making of the government through the Parliament and be responsible for all the decisions taken while the government is in power. All political decisions could be made by the Prime Minister together with the Parliament and report the same to the Head of State

The Prime Minister should be the one that presides over the cabinet, not the head of state. The head of the government can recommend ministers to the head of state for the appointment and can also do the same when there’s a need to dismiss a minister. The Head of State should not be dialoguing directly with the Cabinet Ministers. 

 

Conclusion

The time is now right to re-examine our Constitution and make the necessary changes to split the two roles between two individuals - Head of State and Head of Government. 

 

Rev Asiri P Perera

Retired President Bishop

Methodist Church Sri Lanka

July 16, 2022