Federal or Unitary? The Power-sharing Debate in Sri Lanka

Abstract

ABSTRACTSri Lanka’s power-sharing debate is focused on the labels ‘federal and ‘unitary’. A recent Judgment of the Supreme Court recognising the fluidity of these terms, and a creative reform proposal defining Sri Lanka as a ‘aekiya rajyaya/orumitha nadu’, present opportunities for consensus. Yet there are also powerful obstacles, including the virtual collapse of Sri Lanka’s coalition government and exclusivist nationalist ideologies. Regardless of the outcome of this round of reform, however, reformers must focus on the political if Sri Lanka is to ever reach a just and equitable solution to the ethnic conflict.