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by Rajiva Wijesinghe

Last week, at the Regional Conference of the Mont Pelerin Society, the Prime Minister made an impressive speech in which he expressed his commitment to the peace process and to various measures dear to his audience. The Society is devoted to the ideals of Friedrich von Hayek, probably the greatest liberal thinker of the last century. To put it briefly, his primary allegiance was to liberty, to which the greatest threat seemed increasing statism which he saw as tending towards totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism can of course be of right as well as left. Though the risk recently was more from Marxism, a number of countries in the third world, while ostensibly supporting free market economies, insisted on government controls that traduced what Hayek termed the Constitution of Liberty. It was such a tendency in the JR Jayewardene government that Chanaka Amaratunga identified, so that he established the Liberal Party despite his previous attachment to the UNP.

One of my earliest conversations with Chanaka revolved around his defence of the Dudley Front, whereas I thought of Dudley as old-fashioned and inefficient, compared with the forward thinking JR. I realized soon enough however what Chanaka meant, and I also recognized later why he saw Premadasa as a more positive force despite his authoritarian tendencies, in that he did not try to manipulate the constitution or the courts.

Twinned in Chanaka with what I initially thought a strange attachment to Premadasa was deep suspicion of Ranil. I assumed this was prejudice, like Chanaka's admiration for Gamini Dissanayake. So it took him much argument to overcome my distaste for what I saw as Gamini's usurpation of the leadership of the UNP after the 1994 General Election. But the way in which Gamini responded to the manifesto Chanaka drafted for him, conceptualizing and taking further its principles, made me understand why he claimed Gamini was always willing to think.

But Gamini died and Ranil again became the leader of the UNP. Since he behaved well initially when Chandrika began her peace negotiations, I was lulled into complacence and believed in 2001 that a UNP government was desirable and would be no threat to freedom. But, as evidence continued to mount, of inefficiency, inconsistency and a total tolerance of dishonesty, I wondered. And with the abortive 19th amendment, so reminiscent of the 2nd, I realized JR was back again.

The desire for absolute power, arising from lopsided legislation based on no principles whatsoever, is a dangerous thing. So for some time I have been wary about this government. But until last week I had not realized that it was also hypocritical in its approach, in its determination to mislead with regard to basic facts.

For what astonished me most in Ranil's speech was the suggestion that his government had introduced the Constitutional Council. There was no hint that this had been brought in by Chandrika. And when I found one of the visitors referring to a mad Marxist party I had to point out that, much as one despaired of their economic ideas, the JVP were the originators of the 17th amendment.

In this regard, though I am sorry that Ranil's intransigence, contrary to the inclinations of more sensible members of his party, has prevented cohabitation, I hope the JVP will urge introduction of a constitutional provision to limit the cabinet to 20. They failed to entrench this in 2001, but now they could go further and restrict the total of all Ministers to 40 at the most. And if the UNP discourages this, the President should consult the people through a referendum.

This should not involve wasting money through a separate process. But when people vote, say for Provincial Councils, she could present some issues of principle to the people to limit abuses on the part of executive or legislature. Thus a second chamber to give weighted representation to the periphery at the centre, and thus reduce incentives for separatism, might be considered. Another salutary provision would be the introduction of directive provisions regarding education and health services into a preamble to the Constitution on South African lines, to ensure that freedom of choice is accompanied by development of a level playing field.

Of course given how our politicians behave, I fear we will have nothing but confrontation in the months ahead. But let us hope that the current balance of forces will preclude further attempts at total domination, and allow at least some attempt at consensus.

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