Features

Parliament and the question of sovereignty

Published

3 years ago

2023/11/19

By Uditha Devapriya

Conversations lay down the foundation for consensus, they provoke discussion and enable debate. One Text Initiative’s (OTI) session on strengthening parliamentary fiscal sovereignty through the Committee System, held last Thursday, October 16, at Water’s Edge, opened such a debate and discussion. While it’s still hard to think of consensus over matters like fiscal sovereignty, the issue remains relevant enough. At its core is whether Parliament should take up responsibility for the country’s economy and resist capture by the Executive. The Committee system is one of many systems if not the main such through which one can enhance Parliamentary autonomy. Indeed, it may be the best.

Debates over Executive accountability and Parliamentary sovereignty rest on the concept of separation of powers. Formulated by Montesquieu, but practised in some form long before his theorisation, it lies at the heart of political debates in Sri Lanka. To what extent in Sri Lanka’s Legislature sovereign and to what extent has it been captured by the Executive? Are binaries between these two arms arbitrary or valid? The OTI session asked these questions, and though it didn’t answer all of them, it left much room for reflection.

Given that we are in the middle of an economic crunch, I think it behoves us to look at the issue from not one or two but as many perspectives as possible. This is especially so since the Legislature represents a midway point between the other two arms of the State: unlike the Judiciary, it is an elected body, and unlike the Executive, it does not concentrate power or confer it on a select group of people. Depending on who is in power, the Parliament can epitomise the best or worst of both worlds. Its barometer is the confidence of the public. If it loses that, it loses its raison d’etre. And there is no greater gauge of public confidence than the economy. This is why fiscal sovereignty is so important.

The One Text Initiative session began with a presentation by Dr Nishan de Mel. Citing the Constitution, Dr de Mel observed, correctly, that Parliament has outsourced its powers, particularly over financial matters, to third parties. He traced this issue to three distinct but interrelated problems: an informational (lack of awareness among parliamentarians and, by extension, the public), a behavioural (subverted incentives stemming from Executive capture of Parliament), and a structural (lack of ability and knowledge, expertise, and experience) one. These three problems have made it possible for external players to not just subvert but also take over the Parliament’s functions.

De Mel’s concerns are valid, and I believe they have a profound bearing on the current IMF programme. Though I remain a critic of IMF policies and prescription, I do admit that long before other think-tanks, de Mel pointed out that Sri Lanka should draw up its own reform programme before going to the IMF. At a forum organised by the Chamber of Commerce in December 2021 – a month or two before the economic crisis hit the country – he bluntly observed that “You do not get the credit officer to write the plan.” At the heart of this issue is a lack or crisis of credibility – a potential fourth pillar de Mel could have included in his presentation – both in terms of the public’s perception of the Legislature and in terms of the international community’s dealings with that not-so august body.

Yet instead of forcing Parliament to become more accountable to the people in economic matters, this lack of credibility has actually fuelled its tendency to outsource or “farm out” – de Mel’s words – to external institutions. The whole point of parliamentary sovereignty is its accountability to the people. This is especially so given that the Legislature is the most representative body of the State, giving space to both the majority and minority. There is no point having a Parliament if economic matters are decided by other parties, particularly those outside the country. The Parliament itself has Committees which look into these matters, which probe them, which reinforce bipartisanship. But rather than strengthening them, we have become content in resorting to those other institutions.

We are confronted with two dilemmas here. On the one hand, the Parliament reflects a composition which has not changed since 2020. It no longer reflects the popular will it once indubitably had. Moreover, it has displayed gross incompetence in economic matters. I am not thinking only in terms of policy here, but also in terms of optics, a fitting example of which would be the recent fiasco involving Professor Ranjith Bandara.

That lack of credibility has fed into a crisis of confidence within the Legislature, which in turn has compelled the ruling party to rely on what third parties rather than the Opposition says on economic policy issues. On the other hand, the government is using its engagement with third parties, the IMF in particular, to justify its continued hold on power.

In that sense, it isn’t just Executive capture of the Legislature which we should talk about or be worried about, it’s also Legislative capture of the Executive. The nexus between these two institutions has grown over the last few decades, though recent developments, like the Supreme Court ruling on MP Naseer Ahamed, has gone some way in restoring accountability to Parliament. Yet we cannot deny that, in terms of financial matters and fiscal sovereignty, the Legislature’s own incompetence has made Executive overreach easy: a point that almost all MPs who spoke at the OTI session, including Harsha de Silva and Charitha Herath, noted. That raises a crucial question: if the Parliament of its own accord has become a handmaiden of the Executive, who else can we blame but the parliamentarians themselves?

My own take here is that civil society in Sri Lanka, in Colombo, is much too concerned with how the Executive has intruded into the Legislature to think about how the Legislature has ingratiated itself before the Executive and external parties. We should prevent too much overlap between these institutions, but we must also realise that overlaps of this sort are a two-way street. In that sense Harsha de Silva’s polite riposte to de Mel’s presentation – that there is a rift between theory and practice – seems apt, if not valid. Accordingly, if fiscal or economic sovereignty has eroded in here, it is not because powerful forces have usurped it from less powerful ones, but because the less powerful have ceded it to the more powerful. The fault, as Shakespeare once wrote, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.

The writer is an international relations analyst, independent researcher, and freelance columnist who can be reached at udakdev1@gmail.com.

All News Advertisement

Related Topics:epitomise IMF Parliament Professor Ranjith Bandara

Up Next

Ranawaka warns of imminent social explosion over taxation woes

Don't Miss

“CRUSH THE EXISTENCE OF VERMIN”

Click to comment

Features

Proactive peacemaking becomes a paramount need

Published

21 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wasting wars: Some war-displaced people in Lebanon. BBC

It may be some time before the full impact of food inflation is felt in the West. Until such time the world would continue to keep itself in suspense over whether the Trump administration is in earnest when it seeks to convey the impression that it is backing a negotiated solution in West Asia.

As is usually the case, consumer stress would be one of the final determinants of political change. To the degree to which the average US consumer somehow ‘muddles through’ and puts the food on the table, to the same extent would the Republican sections of the US public in particular be tolerant of the Trump administration’s inconsistent handling of the West Asian war and the main issues stemming from it. That is, there would be no grave popular disaffection and a demand for political change in the short term.

However, the indications are that the Trump administration’s support base is suffering some erosion in the wake of the current economic crisis. While reports indicate that Democratic sections are firming-up their opposition to the political centre, Republican support for Trump is also showing signs of waning, we are given to understand.

The above developments are probably why Trump is on record as having given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a ‘dressing down’ recently on his seeming intransigence on the question of giving negotiations a chance in West Asia. The show of displeasure could be really aimed by Trump at containing the impatience of the American public.

However, the current ground situation in the Middle East, particularly the uncontained bloodshed, is likely to impress on the thinking sections of the world that more than temporary political change is needed in West Asia and the US.

A well thought out political solution that addresses all the contentious issues at the heart of the Middle East conflict is what enlightened opinion would demand, and very rightly. Right now, the ‘peace efforts’ initiated by the Trump administration give the impression of being piecemeal solutions at best.

There have been, of course, numerous initiatives in the past aimed at bringing permanent peace to the Middle East. These failed mainly because they did not address in full the root causes of the conflict.

At bottom the Middle East conflict is mainly about race and religious hate bred by socio-economic and material inequalities. For instance, if the Palestinian people were not displaced and deprived of land occupied by them at the time of the founding of the Israeli state, ethnic enmities would not have grown to the current unmanageable proportions.

When addressing the above questions, though, it must be remembered that the Israelis too were a displaced people who were entitled to land and a state of their own in the Middle East. Basically, out of these seemingly irreconcilable and conflicting demands have grown the Middle East imbroglio.

Middle East peace is considerably about reconciling these demands and arriving at a solution that would ensure the creation of two states that would opt for peaceful co-existence thereafter.

As long as the US does not see the need for a non-partisan solution that addresses the needs of both ethnicities and religions and goes all-out, as it were, to have it implemented, the Middle East would continue to bleed.

However, staunching the blood flow through the creation of two states would be only half the job done, though a very important part of it. More pernicious, pervasive and difficult to remedy are the inter-ethnic and inter-religious hatreds that have been unleashed over the decades.

However, if substantial, long-lasting peace is to be fostered in the region the latter ‘demons’ would need to be exorcised from the hearts and minds of the communities concerned. No doubt an uphill task but one that must be undertaken by those who wish the region well.

The UN would need to put its ‘best foot forward’ in such undertakings but it is time that it dawned on the international community and other caring quarters that Middle East peace, and all other such uphill challenges, require proactive peacemaking on the part of all civilized sections for their effective management. That is, public involvement in peacemaking too is a must.

Since hatreds are harboured in the human consciousness the enmities embedded in the latter need to be managed and defused judiciously alongside other undertakings in a peace process. In the case of West Asia, such enmities could be even spread globe-wide besides being multi-dimensional. For instance, it ought to be thought-provoking that Iran is insistent on a peace initiative that would also include Lebanon.

Besides security considerations it is also ethnic and religious affiliations that account for Iran making this demand. For instance, the Shias are a numerically important religious community in Lebanon and they provide a significant number of Hizbollah fighters, who are in a vital sense carrying out a ‘proxy war’ for Iran. It also needs to be factored in that Iran is a Shia-majority country.

Thus trans-border religious affiliations could add to the complexities and enormity of ethno-religious conflicts. However, the task of managing centuries-long enmities needs to be launched and prodded on with by peacemakers since a downing of arms alone would not guarantee substantive peace.

It is not realized sufficiently that the process of ending hatreds begins with mutual apologies by antagonists to a conflict for the harm inflicted on each other. This would be anathema in some ears but there is no getting away from the requirement. It is the vital first step to permanent peace anywhere.

In fact there could be no reconciliation worth speaking of without such mutual apologies. It is a point worth re-iterating in these times when even the government of Sri Lanka is voicing the need for national reconciliation. Well, without the words, ‘I am sorry’, there could be no permanent end to enmities – they would do well to remember.

The above requirements may not go down very well with governments, but they resonate in the hearts and minds of most people, since they are inheritors of religious traditions of some kind.

This is a principal reason why peacemaking works well when publics too are involved in them. The effectiveness of such campaigns increases several fold when they have a Mahatma Gandhi or a Jawaharlal Nehru at their helm. A strong proactive involvement by the public in peace could lead to the emergence of such leaders at some point in these campaigns.

Features

Dialog Brings Sri Lanka’s Largest Digital Vesak Experience to Matara

Published

21 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

From left to right: Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, and Lasantha Theverapperuma experience the Dialog 5G Ultra-powered VR tours.

Official Digital Partner of the 2026 ‘Dakshina Prabha’ National Vesak Zone

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s #1 connectivity provider, collaborated with the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs to bring one of Sri Lanka’s largest and most technologically advanced Vesak experiences to the ‘Dakshina Prabha’ National Vesak Zone. The three-day celebration, in Matara attracted more than hundred thousand visitors, who engaged with a series of innovative digital activities powered by Dialog 5G Ultra, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, digital pandols and a Data Dansala. The opening ceremony was attended by Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development and Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Minister of Women and Child Affairs, along with distinguished guests and Dialog’s senior management.

One of the key attractions at the venue was the Dialog 5G Ultra-powered Virtual Reality (VR) experience, which attracted more than 35,000 participants. The activation enabled devotees to virtually visit and pay homage to sacred Buddhist sites, including the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in India and the Atamasthana in Anuradhapura, directly from the Vesak zone in Matara.

Visitors receive complimentary mobile data through Dialog’s QR-powered Data Dansala.

Dialog also conducted an AI Digital Vesak Greeting Card Competition from 21 May to 01 June 2026, attracting numerous entries from across the country. The shortlisted designs were showcased across 20 large LED screens throughout the venue and across Matara City, and were also made available for download via mobile devices. Further, through the use of AI, traditional Jathaka Katha were reimagined in a digital format, demonstrating how technology can be used to preserve and enhance cultural and religious heritage. Together, these initiatives blended traditional Vesak celebrations with emerging technologies, offering visitors a unique and immersive way to engage with Vesak traditions.

Extending the spirit of Vesak through connectivity, Dialog conducted a special Data Dansala powered by its QR Reload platform, enabling visitors to receive complimentary mobile data by scanning QR codes placed across the venue. In addition to the Matara National Vesak Zone, similar Data Dansala activations were also conducted at the Gangaramaya and Bauddhaloka Vesak zones in Colombo.Visitors also had the opportunity to create personalised Vesak-themed digital photos through an AI Photo Booth, generating AI-enhanced portraits using their own photographs and adding a contemporary digital element to the Vesak celebrations.

Visitors watch AI-generated Jathaka Katha

Commenting on the initiative, Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, said, “The 2026 Dakshina Prabha Vesak Festival marked the first time AI-powered digital innovations were incorporated into a National Vesak Festival in Sri Lanka. Presenting Buddhist stories and teachings through technology created a new and engaging way for visitors to connect with these traditions. We thank Dialog for supporting this initiative and for working closely with us to bring our vision to life. Their contribution played an important role in making this first-of-its-kind event a reality.”

Lasantha Theverapperuma, Group Chief Marketing Officer of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “We thank the Government of Sri Lanka for the opportunity to support the 2026 Dakshina Prabha National Vesak Festival and for embracing technology as part of this year’s celebrations. As the Official Digital Partner, we were privileged to contribute through our Dialog 5G Ultra and AI capabilities, creating new ways for visitors to engage with Vesak traditions while preserving their cultural significance for future generations.”

Beyond supporting the National Vesak Zone in Matara, Dialog also enhanced the Gangaramaya and Bauddhaloka Vesak zones through a range of digital activations during the Vesak season. The company additionally continued its sustainability initiatives, including the Thirasara Aloka Poojawa, which illuminated rural places of worship through solar-powered lighting solutions.

Features

Beauty, elegance and talent…for women

Published

21 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

Universal Woman is an international pageant focused on “beauty, elegance, and talent” for women, positioning itself as a platform to shape global ambassadors. The 2026 edition will be held in Cambodia, and Sri Lanka will be there, as well.

According to reports coming my way, contestants, at the international event, will work with industry trailblazers, under international standards.

Sri Lankan supermodel, runway and pageant trainer Chulpadmendra Kumarapathirana, is the National Director for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026.

With over two decades in the industry, Chula was crowned Miss Sri Lanka 2006, and has since shaped the next generation of titleholders through her Colombo-based Chulpadmendra Catwalk Studio, widely regarded as one of the country’s leading modelling academies.

The team behind Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026

A former host of Derana Miss Sri Lanka for Miss World 2008 and a judge for Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2025, Chula now serves as National Director for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026, leading the franchise’s search for Sri Lanka’s delegate to the international final in Cambodia.

Applications for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 are being taken, via WhatsApp: 077 659 4994, says Chula.

The judging panel for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 includes Senaka De Silva, Pageant Aesthetic Advisor & Chairperson of the Judging Panel, Angela Seneviratne, Caroline Jurie, Rozelle Plunkett, and Suraj Mapa.

Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 officially began its journey with a first round of auditions, held in Colombo, marking the start of an exciting new chapter in Sri Lanka’s pageant industry.

Launching the first round of auditions

The platform aims to empower women while selecting an intelligent, confident, and inspiring representative to compete at the Universal Woman International Pageant 2026 in Cambodia, this September.

Universal Woman Sri Lanka now moves forward with the vision of creating one of the country’s most prestigious and empowering pageants while preparing to crown a queen who will proudly represent Sri Lanka on the international stage.