By Karvanan

With a presidential election mandated to be held before November, the issue of abolishing the executive presidency has become a high-octane topic in politics once again.

J. R. Jayewardene, who introduced the all-powerful executive presidency via a new constitution following his thumping victory in the 1977 general election, described the powers of the executive as being all-encompassing except being able to change a man into a woman or a woman into a man. But over time, with the executive taking on an autocratic mien, the presidency came to be reviled by both the public and political parties, the latter making ‘abolishing the presidency’ an opportunistic campaign pledge.

This pledge was made by Chandrika Kumaratunga when she contested the 1994 presidential election. She was elected president twice but never made any moves to abolish the executive presidency. Similarly, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who contested the 2005 presidential election, gave his pledge to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which supported him at that time, that he would abolish the executive system of government when he came to power. Not only did he serve two terms as president, he also, during his second term in office, amended the constitution, expanding the powers of the president and removing the two-term limit, allowing him to run for a third term.

Lucky for Sri Lanka, he lost that election, averting the danger of the country stumbling into a dictatorship with an entrenched, all-powerful executive president.

Common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, the surprise victor in the 2015 presidential election, also promised to abolish the executive presidency.  Although he made some amendments to the constitution limiting some of the powers of the executive, he did not have the political will or the courage to keep true to his promise.

Now it’s Ranil Wickremesinghe’s turn. He has long called for the abolition of the executive presidency, a coveted seat he has never been able to win by popular vote. But by a twist of fate executive powers are in his hands now.  He can hold on to it for the next eight months, but if he wants to continue holding on to those powers, he has to win a mandate from the public, which means he has to win the presidential election. But can he?

In a context where the party that propelled him to the seat of power is still undecided on extending its support to him, Wickremesinghe, it appears is thinking about alternative ways to retain power. It is widely alleged that he is trying to stay in office after the current term of the president ends, and that is why he is planning to introduce amendments to abolish the office of the executive ahead of the scheduled election.

But abolishing the presidency is not something that can be done on a whim or a single person’s desire.  It needs a two-thirds majority support in Parliament and a people’s mandate through a referendum.

Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) has only a single seat in Parliament. Some MPs who have broken away from Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) may support him, but a constitutional amendment cannot be done with a handful of supportive MPs.

However, if talks of abolishing the presidency are making its rounds in the political arena, it could only be because of Wickremesinghe. He has been deemed a manipulative politician who’d take the circuitous backdoor route rather than the direct approach. A case in point is how he thwarted the Independent Election Commission from holding local government elections. People like Mahinda Rajapaksa would probably hesitate to make such decisions, but Wickremesinghe did it very easily.

It is this action and others of a similar bent that gives credence to the belief that he would do anything to delay the presidential election, even initiate moves to abolish the presidency, although the reality of him actually doing it is farfetched and fanciful.

For, abolishing the executive presidency is not an easy task. And if Wickremesinghe is honest in his intentions, he will need the support of two platforms – the support of other parties within the Parliament, for a two-thirds majority and public support to win a referendum.  In reality, however, Wickremesinghe cannot get the two-thirds majority, even if he had the full support of the SLPP.

And herein lies another conundrum.  Even though the SLPP says it is ready to abolish the executive presidency, it is not ready to do so now. The party’s general secretary, Sagara Kariyawasam, has said his party will not support any moves to abolish the presidency until an opportunity is created for a Prime Minister to form a government with a simple majority in Parliament.

In the current system of proportional representation, where no party can have a single majority, he has said the executive presidency can be abolished after a change in the electoral system.

Meanwhile, even the SJB, National People’s Power (NPP) and the SLFP, who are on record saying they are ready to support the abolition of the executive presidency, have indicated they are not ready to support any moves at this stage.

The parties are likely wary of any moves by Wickremesinghe to begin the process of abolishing the presidency because they believe it would be done with the sole intention of extending his tenure.

No one wants to take Wickremesinghe’s political tactics at face value.  Hence their call to first hold the presidential election and then take steps to abolish the executive branch. However, it is being said that Wickremesinghe plans to thwart any moves by political parties to hinder the abolition moves by holding a plebiscite first.

Though all parties are unanimous in their belief that Wickremesinghe will not be able to muster the support in Parliament or in a referendum to abolish the executive presidency, many have expressed concerns that the move may be a ruse to extend his tenure by at least one year using the abolition move as an excuse.

While the issue is being seriously discussed and debated in political circles, the Presidential Secretariat issued a statement to the effect that the presidential and general elections would be held within the stipulated period and that necessary funds would be allocated for same.

The statement was likely an attempt to convince the public that President Ranil Wickremesinghe would not try to hold on to office beyond his mandated period.  But not many are ready to accept it, the consensus being there is more to the statement than what meets the eye.

-ENCL