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| Wednesday, 16 July 2003 |
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The tensions and thrills of cohabitation by Afreeha Jawad At least now 'let the turf lie lightly on him' - I mean the 'old fox', as newspapers other than those of Lake House 'endearingly' referred to him in those days.
Yes, JR's constitution, perhaps seen by many as the country's curse, has not denied the citizenry its accompanying 'blessings' as well. It was just last week that Minister Ravi Karunanayake came over BBC's 'Sandesaya' only to disclose how taking to task the Executive was deemed impossible because of the compelling restraint - an imposition brought upon the Executive and legislature for peaceful co-habitation. Should the prevailing status quo summersault and change for a presidency of a different colour, the benefits of reciprocity go without saying. Irregularities, if any, of present performance are sure to be vaulted somewhere deep down for the same reason of peaceful co-existence. We also saw recently in the Lotteries Board crisis how the "effective" implementation of presidential powers was followed by extra judicial behaviour, a sort of warning to the Executive itself to be cautious in whip handling though constitutional provision of Executive powers - so unwieldly, rests with the President. Getting back to my earlier point of mutual benefit and reciprocity - in this type of co-existence - this peaceful constitutional matrimony would foster public ignorance where civil society would be systematically driven to peripheral existence over not having to 'being in the know' of what the other party is up to. Bearers of compatible irregularities can feel all too very smug with a protective pull over of co-habitation that should necessarily ward off fears of house arrest in the event of the opposing party's power installation. This situation mitigates political bickering - certainly a matter of great relief. But then at what cost? Growing public ignorance of what the electorate's political gods are up to is altogether not a welcome sign. But then all worldly phenomenon is relative and reaching out to perfection is impossible. This state referred to in economics is opportunity cost or the benefit accrued from the best alternative foregone. Karunanayake's confession to the BBC is a reflection of what's going on within the UNF as far as control of its more belligerent members is concerned. Tact, diplomacy, restraint seem to be part and parcel of the tuitioning coming from the more senior and seasoned UNF hierarchy - a clamp on boiling 'red blood' of 'young greens'. Looks like Wickremesinghe is on the right track in prioritizing matters - firstly the resolution of Sri Lanka's biggest bug bear - the ethnic conflict. Hence his concern over what the tactless ones say and do - while he himself never failing to praise Kumaratunga at international fora - the results of which have not fallen short of his expectations. A common target gels internal differences. That the LTTE and constitutional compulsions such as co-habitation bring in cohesion and flexibility between Sri Lanka's two major Sinhala - dominated political parties is indeed noteworthy. That such social and constitutional constraints hold the balance of scales between the Executive and legislature augur well. Certainly it has de- escalated narrow nationalistic and ethnocentric feelings and deflated to an extent highly strung verbal exchanges and accusations. |
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