Beware the ‘end-of-term blues’

Novice Member of Parliament Diana Gamage last week made the extraordinary proposal that a motion be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament to extend the President’s term of office by two more years. She claimed that the President had lost two years of his five-year term due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is no coincidence that MP Gamage’s call follows remarks made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who recently narrated a story how a youth he had met at the Sacred Temple of the Tooth in Kandy had suggested to him the same course of action considering the ‘two years lost’ due to the pandemic. MP Diana Gamage, who crossed over to join President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Government to support the 20th Amendment confirms that these are early moves by the incumbent to test the waters for a potentially extra-constitutional means to extend the SLPP’s grip on power.

It is ironic that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who presides over an administration that will be remembered for island wide power cuts, fuel shortages, food scarcity and putting the country on a knife’s edge of sovereign debt default, is already in the throes of the “end-of-term blues” with three years left in his tenure. 

It is a condition that afflicts nearly every holder of Sri Lanka’s powerful executive presidency as that grip on power begins to falter or wane. For President Chandrika Kumaratunge, it was the effort to add a year to her second term on the basis that she had called presidential elections with one year left to spare in her first 1994-2000 term. And it was only three short years ago that President Maithripala Sirisena precipitated a constitutional coup in his desperation to protect his political future beyond November 2019.

Since early 2018, President Sirisena had been looking at options to either prolong his tenure or secure a second term. Despite the 19th amendment to the constitution reducing the presidential term of office from six to five years and the transitionary clauses to the amendment clearly articulating that these provisions applied even to the incumbent, President Sirisena sought an opinion from the Supreme Court on whether his term was in fact six years, rather than five. When the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional provisions enacted in 2015, President Sirisena resorted to a shady political deal with the then joint opposition to oust the sitting prime minister. After two months of coup-drama, in the end game, these were the desperate and callous attempts by one individual to cling to political power. The October 2018 coup was defeated, but the cost of that political instability was enormous. The coup plunged the country into chaos, the Government and the state were dysfunctional and paralysed for most of 2019, a state of affairs that eventually paved the way for the Easter Sunday attacks.

Having learnt such a bitter lesson so recently, it would be inexcusable to allow another attempt at political manoeuvring by a desperate politician to latch on to power. After the enactment of the 20th Amendment to the constitution which effectively reversed most of the democratic checks and balances and eroded the independence of democratic institutions such as the parliament, judiciary, and the public service, it is important, now more than ever, to ensure that the last remaining vestige of democracy; the ability to replace a leader at least once in five years, is not decimated. This would effectively mark the end of the road for Sri Lanka as a functional democracy.

The current President is well within his rights to contest presidential elections and seek a fresh mandate. While the move would be dubious, the constitution also empowers him to seek a nationwide referendum and present the question on any extension of his term to the electorate, as done in 1982 by President J.R Jayawardena to extend the life of parliament by six years and preserve the super majority he enjoyed in the House, followed by an act of Parliament. However, any attempts to circumvent the constitution to allow for an extension of tenure of the incumbent through an illegal and undemocratic parliamentary manoeuvre, must be contested vigorously and summarily defeated.

So, while MP Diana Gamage’s assertions might be ridiculous and immature, it begins a national discourse that is inherently anti-democratic, and must be nipped in the bud. Even entertaining the conversation gives it a credence that could prove dangerous in our fragile democracy. 

The last time a President had such a bad case of ‘end-of-term blues’, he took Sri Lanka to the brink of chaos, threw the state apparatus into disarray and paved the way for 260 citizens to be murdered in cold blood.