Category: Uncategorized

The Effects of a Crisis: Stronger Citizens? Stronger Democracy? Stronger Constitution?

Natasha (De Silva) Palansuriya2 Comments

Now that the political turmoil has settled and the focus can turn to recovering what was diminished during the last 50 days of political pandemonium, I thought it would be good to reflect back on some of the positive things that happened as a results of the constitutional crisis.

The political leaders have been shaken up – having the rug pulled out from under your feet can do that to you. Pro-democratic political parties, civil society groups and individuals fought hard to restore the democracy of the country, by using the protection given by the constitution. Because of that the UNP has been given a do-over. As Hon. Sajith Premadasa said in a statement made right after Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe was reinstated: this would be a different and revolutionary government.

Of course, now the people are not quick to believe everything that politicians say, and there is a renewed urgency in holding political leaders and the government accountable. People are watching the actions of the government more carefully than they did before, and will think twice before casting their vote in the next election. So, with this second chance also comes greater responsibility to govern virtuously.

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When Democracy and Constitutionalism Clash…

Natasha (De Silva) PalansuriyaLeave a comment

Pure democracy is a system of government suitable only for angels – ordinary mortals cannot handle it – Rousseau

Democracy – a word that has been thrown around a lot in the past month in Sri Lanka. Studying the current political discourse in the country, democracy has been propagated in two different ways. To one camp it is the protection of the constitution and the rule of law. To the other camp, democracy is simply and solely ‘the voice of the people’ – thus the call for elections above everything else. 

In fact, the greek word demokratia literally translates to ‘rule or power of the people’. And as widely cited in academic discourse democracy is defined as ‘popular political participation’. 

So, what does it mean for the people to rule? It means that everyone should govern; that the will of the people should be consulted in crucial decision making; in deciding general laws and matters of general policy[1]. One way to determine the will of the people is through their elected representatives[2]. In our political context the people have already decided who would represent them for this political term, therefore ousting those who have already been elected, and demanding another election prematurely is quite simply going against the will of the people, i.e. democracy. 

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Picture Source: https://manningclark.org.au

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Democracy Prevails… What Next?

Natasha (De Silva) PalansuriyaLeave a comment

The past three weeks have been a rollercoaster ride for politics in Sri Lanka. From the shock when MR was appointed Prime Minister (whilst RW was still prime minister) – a constitutional coup carried out by the President – to the outrage when, once again, the constitution was violated when the parliament was dissolved by a President who was afraid to face reality… and who tried to buy time, when buying votes failed… and to the exhilaration felt when democracy prevailed.

Through this chaos, what was most promising was the nation coming together to protect democracy and preserve the sanctity of the constitution. Putting party politics aside, citizens stood together for the sake of democracy. Most importantly, the judicial system displayed that it is independent and capable of upholding the rule of law – when it issued an interim order stopping the dissolution of parliament until the final judgement is passed on the 7th of December.

The Speaker of parliament too showed that he is a ‘no-nonsense’ leader when parliament was immediately reconvened on the 14th of November, as originally gazetted. It was down to business – within 20 minutes of starting the session a vote was taken and 122 MPs voted in favour of the no-confidence motion, declaring the illegitimate government created by MS and MR no more. The Speaker continued to act with integrity and bravery, facing mobs who failed to accept the vote on the no confidence motion.

Democracy prevails… so what next?

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From ‘Transition’ to ‘Transformation’ – A New Approach to Post-Conflict Justice

Natasha (De Silva) Palansuriya1 Comment

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of countries considered ‘in transition’, however of nearly hundred of those countries only a handful can be considered to be moving towards successful, well-functioning democracies.  It is not a surprise considering that transitional justice is founded on westen-liberal peace theories, and promotes a one-size fits all solution to redress violations committed during conflicts or authoritarian regimes – and does not look much further than that.

Over the years Sri Lanka too has been grappling with ‘transitional justice’; trying to set up mechanisms in order to adhere to the standards of the international community, however, nothing constructive has come out of it. I have been studying this concept in the context of Sri Lanka, possibly for the past 6 years, and what has dawned on me time and time again is that the focus needs to change from a process that is run by the politicians and elites of the country (and outside the country) to one that is completely embedded in the grassroots.

A fundamental weakness of transitional justice is that it takes place at the top (i.e the process is run by governments, international and national bodies)¹.  This prevents the results expected to reach deep into the soil of the society². This explains, at least partly, why there seems to be little or no effect from the transitional justice process thus far. Therefore, it seems timely that an emerging concept – Transformative Justice – be introduced to the Sri Lankan post-conflict context. Continue reading “From ‘Transition’ to ‘Transformation’ – A New Approach to Post-Conflict Justice” →

Arousing Compassion

Natasha (De Silva) Palansuriya3 Comments

The events that took place in Sri Lanka in the past few days truly left me confounded – mostly sad, angry and helpless. Watching from a distance it felt surreal, all I could think of was why this keeps happening to us again and again. There was chaos on the streets of Kandy, a state of emergency, innocent people been attacked because of their race/religion.  I was then inclined to write a blog post out of that disappointment, about the reasons we keep going back to communal conflicts,  but of course the reasons are many. One explanation that is simple, yet complex at the same time, and which I keep coming back to in my readings again and again is the need for justice for what happened in the past. Conflicts have the potential to play itself out in different ways in the future. The violence and conflict that appear to be new is often historically informed and rooted in ongoing experiences of social marginalisation, political exclusion and economic exploitation.

Whilst this needs to be discussed, today I would like to specifically focus on the unity and solidarity of our people in the aftermath of this violence. Because right now I’m not writing from a place of disappointment, I’m writing from a place of deep appreciation for my country men and women. Continue reading “Arousing Compassion” →

Is a Hybrid Court Really a Win-Win Option for Sri Lanka?

Natasha (De Silva) Palansuriya1 Comment

A debate that is prevalent among the actors involved in the Sri Lankan post-conflict setting is the issue of which tribunals should be used in the transitional justice process. Whether it be the use of an international tribunal, which those among the Tamil diaspora and international community are mainly in favour of, or the use of a purely domestic mechanism, which is a strong opinion among the Sinhala majority, and leadership in Sri Lanka, or as the UN Human Rights Council recommended in September 2015 – the use of a hybrid court to try perpetrators of war crimes. So, I decided to write this blog in the hopes that an academic exploration of the different tribunals will help us understand the crux of this debate. Continue reading “Is a Hybrid Court Really a Win-Win Option for Sri Lanka?” →

Day of Solemn Remembrance

Natasha (De Silva) Palansuriya1 Comment
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Image Credit: telecoms.com

On a day like today, on the 7th anniversary of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka, I ask you:

 

“Who counts as human? Whose lives counts as lives? And finally, what makes for a grievable life?”

– Butler, 2004

This should be a day of solemn remembrance, not a day of celebrations. For how do we celebrate the many thousands of lives, all lives, that were lost during the 30 years of the conflict?

Yes we can remember the day we could breathe a sigh of relief that it was all over, but we should remember this day solemnly, not for the messy politics of the war, but for those lives that were lost, and for those families that carry that pain to this day.

I condone the move made by the government of Sri Lanka to call off ‘victory day celebrations’ and instead have a day of remembrance where we will remember this day respectfully. One more step towards reconciliation.

 

Voices of Jaffna

Natasha (De Silva) Palansuriya3 Comments

So I finally made my way to Jaffna. It has been something I wanted to do ever since the end of the war in 2009. The best part of my trip was talking to the locals about how their lives have changed since the end of the war – their stories moved me, so I wanted to share it with you.

 

IMG_6624“We have been travelling since Sunday to all the temples in the North because of Shivaratri (Hindu religious festival), and we return home to Batticaloa tomorrow morning. Things have changed quite a bit since the end of the war. We don’t have to fear war anymore, but we lost our houses so we now live in rented houses. Before the war we could sit at our own home and eat peacefully, we had our own money, but life is hard now. I live with my daughter and son-in-law. He is a farmer so they take care of me. And in return I do all the household work. I pray to God to get younger”
Paramsothi at Nallur Temple 

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Should We Be Optimistic about Reconciliation in Sri Lanka?

Natasha (De Silva) Palansuriya2 Comments

I was at the Public Dialogue on Peace and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka, today at SOAS University. I was interested in attending not only because it is on the topic I study, but because I was curious to hear what the two different parties expected from reconciliation, and what their vision of reconciliation is. The two parties that were represented was the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), who was represented by Mr. Kandia Sarveswaran and the government who was represented by Mr. Shiral Lakthilaka, who is the coordinating secretary to the President of Sri Lanka, and also a member of the United National Party (UNP).

I was hard hit by the fact that six years after the end of the war we are still at a premature stage of reconciliation. Reconciliation… a beautiful word, but one that hold so much of ambiguity in the context of Sri Lanka. So what does reconciliation mean to the two different parties?

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Leadership ‘Behaviour’ in the ‘Freedom Writers’

Natasha (De Silva) Palansuriya2 Comments

Leadership is an extremely complex topic with many definitions and many approaches. For the sake of this post we will explore leadership as defined by Joseph. C. Rost (1993):

“Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes” (Rost 1993 cited in Daft 2011:5).

We will look at the film ‘Freedom Writers’ with this leadership lens. Freedom Writer’s is a film based on a true story about Erin Gruwell, a first time teacher who is assigned to a class of underperforming students who have experienced racial and gang violence all their lives. The story is based in Long Beach, California in 1994. At this time Long Beach California had a high rate of gang violence, and Woodrow Wilson High School implemented a voluntary integration program.

We will focus on the leadership behaviour of the teacher Erin Gruwell. Among the many leadership approaches we can focus on, we will look at transformational leadership because Erin can be seen as a transformational leader, because by the end of the movie, she transformed the performance of her students completely. We analyse this in more depth below. However, prior to that we need to understand what transformational leadership is. According to a definition by Northouse (2013):

Continue reading “Leadership ‘Behaviour’ in the ‘Freedom Writers’” →