All Ceylon Makkal Congress opposes SLFP electoral proposal
Saturday, 18 April 2015 00:00
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The All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) has alleged that electoral reforms proposed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will alienate proper representation by minorities.
Following is the full text of the statement by the ACMC Secretary General.
The proposal by the SLFP to have 165 members on FPP, 60 on District P. R and 25 National Seats will remove the minorities from the political landscape of the country.
In this country the minorities constitute almost 30% which means that out of the 250 members of Parliament as being contemplated by the main parties, the minorities’ share must be nearly 75 seats.
Of the 160 electorates available today, the North and the East have 24 electorates.
Though there are two multi-member constituencies in the Batticaloa and Ampara districts which are the Batticaloa and Pottuvil electorates, raising the total to 26, with the deduction of two Sinhala majority seats in the Ampara and Seruwawila Electorates the total number of seats for the minorities in the North and the East remains at 24.
Outside the North and the East, there are three multi-member constituencies returning four minority members. They are Colombo Central, Harispattuwa and Nuwara Eliya-Maskeliya. In other words, from the currently available 160 electorates all the minorities put together can return only a total of 26 members of Parliament. Even another two or three multi-member constituencies in areas such as Beruwala and Puttalam are created, the total cannot exceed 30 seats, whereas percentage-wise 45-48 seats are due to them from the FPP alone.
When it comes to the District Proportional Representation as reportedly being envisaged at 60, minorities can expect a maximum of 10, that is four to seven from the North and the East and three from outside the North-East. That too is not with any degree of certainty. From the proposed National PR three to five seats may be a possibility.
All in all, the maximum number of seats that the entire minority of Sri Lanka may hope to return will be between 40-45 as opposed to their due share standing at close to 75 of the proposed 250 seats in Parliament.
Even slight adjustments in the proportions among the three components, viz a viz, FPP, DPR and NPR are not going to do any justice to the minorities since the difference is almost half.
The paradox is that the winning party whether it be the UNP or the SLFP is going to secure simple majority or even two-third majority at ease by grabbing part of the share of representation due to the minorities.
The current presidency was it is widely acknowledged, installed with the overwhelming support of the minorities. Any hasty move to effect an unfair electoral system aimed at acquiring majority either simple or two-thirds under the pretext of ensuring so called stability to the Government at the expense of due representation of the minorities will certainly have the potential of thrusting this country into another dark era.
Those who talk of a stable Government must pause to ponder whether the crying need of the nation today is a stable Government or a stable country. Prior to the introduction of the PR system, ruling parties had obtained a two-third majority and even five-sixth majority thus installing the most stable Government, but it only led to an unstable country pushing the prosperity of the country 100 years behind.
Our big brother, India, the largest democracy in the world has since independence seen coalition governments more often than not and its stability has not been threatened, but it has consolidated itself more and more.
Furthermore, a question that cries out for an answer from those who demand the passage of the 19th Amendment together with the 20th Amendment incorporating electoral reform is on what basis they attempt to bring in the 20th Amendment without having to go through a referendum in light of the Supreme Court determination in respect of the clause relating to the appointment of a competent authority by the Elections Commissioner in order to monitor media institutions during election times that it requires approval at a referendum on the ground that it impinges on the franchise enshrined in Article 3 of the constitution.
Therefore, we appeal to all those who seek hasty electoral reform explicitly at the expense of the rights of the minorities to due representation not to act in such manner as to jeopardise their legitimate interests bearing in mind the fact that the minorities that played a vital role in the induction of the current regime did so having reposed the greatest confidence in them in terms of their rights and security.
