18 January 2013| last updated at 11:23PM
NEVER in Sri Lanka's post-independence history has so much power been concentrated in the hands of so few.
The
nasty, brutish and short impeachment process of Dr Shirani Bandaranayake from
the post of Chief Justice and the appointment of presidential adviser Mohan
Peiris as her replacement has emasculated the last institution bold enough to
stand up to President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Most
lawyers, judges and human rights activists saw the process as deeply flawed and
an attack on the independence of the judiciary. The highest court in the land
had opined that the impeachment was not in accordance with the law.
The
move attracted international concern and condemnation. But Rajapakse paid scant
heed and went ahead with the appointment of a new head of the courts.
Some
would say Sri Lanka's highest court has been complicit in making Rajapakse
powerful. Ever since a new Republican constitution was promulgated in 1978
creating an executive presidency, which had the power of appointing the judges
to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land has not struggled to keep
its independence.
In
fact, in several landmark judgments the Supreme Court helped strengthen the executive
in decisions that alarmed jurists. For example, decisions such as the change in
the procedure for Members of Parliament to cross the floor without facing a
by-election made it possible for Rajapakse's ruling coalition to amass a
two-third's majority in parliament.
In
the past two decades or so, there has been no real tussle between the executive
and the judiciary.
That
was until now. A few months ago a bench of the Supreme Court headed by Dr
Bandaranayake found that a proposed parliamentary bill that would give the
president's brother, a cabinet minister, Basil, control over much of the
development budget of the country currently devolved to Provincial Councils was
unconstitutional.
That
placed her in direct confrontation with the president, and the former CJ's
supporters are convinced that is why she was sacked.
The
end result is that Sri Lanka now has a president with true untrammelled power
through his office and those of his siblings. The country's security forces are
under the control of Rajapakse's younger brother the Defence Secretary
Gotabhaya.
The
speaker of the Parliament -- constitutionally next in line to the president --
is an older brother Chamil. And now the other brother Basil more or less
controls the economy.
While
the recent power struggle may have distracted the country in the past weeks,
greater political and economic challenges remain. Growth and foreign investment
has slowed since the post-war spurt.
In
2011, gross domestic product growth was 8.3 per cent. It slowed sharply to 6.5
last year and is forecast to stay around that level in the current year.
The
cost of living has risen sharply and the fall in GDP rates is because of the
contraction of import and export trade. Sri Lanka partly depends on the export
of light industrial goods and agricultural goods for its survival, and this is
not a good sign.
The
demilitarisation of the Tamil minority-dominated North and East and the efforts
at reconciliation are not progressing at promised levels according to
politicians representing those regions. Rather, university students in northern
Jaffna have been arrested because they peacefully commemorated dead Tamil Tiger
cadres.
Externally
the country could come under increased pressure over human rights issues at
international fora. The United Nations Human Rights Council has Sri Lanka on
its agenda for its next meeting.
To
add to that the Commonwealth has been making concerned noises about the
impeachment process and the efforts at reconciliation. The Commonwealth Heads
of Government meeting is scheduled to be held in Rajapakse's hometown of
Hambantota later this year.
This
is being touted as a major feather in the cap of the president. But Canada and
the United Kingdom (two key players in the Commonwealth) have expressed dismay
at recent events and may boycott the meeting -- causing him to lose face.
Rajapakse
has almost absolute power today. With that comes a huge responsibility.
In
the tussle with the judiciary, he has shown that he has no regard for a ruling
of the courts. The new CJ is a Rajapakse loyalist who controversially told the
United Nations in a deposition defending the government's human rights record
that a missing journalist was alive and well, living in another country.
This
was subsequently admitted by him in a Sri Lankan court to be unverified
information. By appointing such a person to the post of CJ the president has
shown he has little respect for the independence of the courts.
No
wonder many Sri Lankans are feeling they are standing on the edge looking into
a dark abyss.
Sri Lankan police officers securing the
entrance of the Supreme Court complex recently in Colombo earlier this week as
the president swore in the new chief justice. Lawyers are protesting the
appointment. AP pic
