By Nasria Naffin

According to the most prominent opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), the proposed 20th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution is the first step toward establishing a dictatorship.

The opposition party, which is led by Sajith Premadasa, has extended an invitation to all progressive forces in the country, urging them to put aside their ideological differences and work together in order to defend the 19th amendment in the constitution.

The SJB issued a statement in which it asserted that it would unconditionally partner with any party or group that wishes to safeguard and further strengthen the 19th amendment, which will soon be replaced by the 20th amendment. This statement was issued in response to a question that was posed by the SJB.

The cabinet of ministers of Sri Lanka gave their approval to a contentious draft of the 20th constitutional amendment. This amendment will repeal many of the provisions of the 19th constitutional amendment, which had reduced some of the executive president’s powers. These powers will, in effect, be restored, and in some cases they will even be strengthened further, if the legislation is passed in parliament and becomes law.

The 19th day of July, 2021 The new government of Sri Lanka, which took office in August of 2020, wasted no time in passing a constitutional amendment within the first two months of its tenure. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, as it was ultimately ratified, has as its primary feature the consolidation of powers within the Executive Office of the President.

As a result, several of the democratic reforms that were introduced by the 19th Amendment have been weakened. A variety of parties, including constituent members of the government, as well as several challenges in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka voiced their opposition to the proposed amendment. As a direct result of this opposition, several amendments were proposed to the original Bill, and in October of 2020, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution was finally ratified.

Shortly after the publication of the Bill, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued an initial analysis of the changes that would be brought about by the Twenty-first Amendment. In this analysis, the CCR stated that the Bill “rolls back democratic reforms introduced by the Nineteenth Amendment in 2015 and are a return to unfettered executive power institutionalized by the Eighteenth Amendment introduced in 2010.”

The 1978 executive presidential system, hated by Sri Lankan workers and the poor, has suppressed democratic and social rights. The Rajapakse government misrepresents the 20th amendment as necessary for economic growth. President Rajapakse and the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) took power by exploiting popular opposition to the austerity measures of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The SLPP promised big business “strong and stable” rule while feigning social progress.

Rajapakse is rapidly instituting autocracy. At the Haldummulla meeting on the 25th of September, he warned state officials, “Take my orders as circulars; no written circulars are necessary. I am the executive president of this country. What is beyond me?”

Rajapakse militarized his administration after taking power last November, appointing retired and in-service generals to key state positions, including retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne as defense secretary.

The media reports that some government members have criticized the 20th amendment. The Sinhala-extremist National Freedom Front and Pure National Heritage Party, which contested the last general election with the SLPP, are concerned.

Racist groups argue that the 20th amendment could allow Tamil diaspora members to run for office. They also oppose removing the auditor general’s oversight of state-owned companies and undermining the president’s emergency act power without gazette notifications.

These “critics” sat with the prime minister when he met with media editors, showing their support for the government. None opposed the president’s dictatorship.

In the Supreme Court, SJB, UNP, TNA, and other lawyers have raised concerns. These include concentrating power in one branch, reducing the auditor-powers, general’s and allowing dual-citizenship holders to hold senior government positions.

These parties have supported the repressive executive presidential system for decades, despite their rhetoric about democratic rights. The UNP introduced autocratic presidentialism.

They also never opposed President Rajapakse’s government militarization. All attended the prime minister’s all-party meetings in March and April, supporting the president’s military response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The JVP wants a broad coalition to defeat the 20th amendment. This is a bourgeois alliance to turn opposition into peaceful protests.

The ruling Bar Association of Sri Lanka fears a mass uprising from the reactionary amendment. “If the public do not have access to remedy a grievance against the unlawful exercise of powers by an all-powerful President the only remedy will be to take arms against the State,” it stated.

The rise of dictatorships shows that the fight for basic democratic rights is tied to the political struggle to abolish capitalism.