Sri Lanka's New Constitution

Abstract

AFTER THE UNITED NATIONAL PARTY (UNP) assumed power in Sri Lanka in May 1977, series of unique constitutional changes were introduced that transformed the island's political system considerably. Some of these changes departed markedly from the main characteristics of the political system that had operated in the last four decades and instead were guided by the need to achieve both political and economic stability. There is need to study the basic features of the changing constitutional system in order to test their utility and adaptability to Sri Lanka's government. The establishment of presidential system of government in February 1978 on the basis of the Second Amendment to the 1972 Constitution seemingly indicated that the government intended to make constitutional changes within the framework of the 1972 Constitution. But the UNP Manifesto, submitted to the electorate in 1977, had stated that the Party sought a mandate to draft, adopt and operate new Republican Constitution in order to achieve the goal of democratic socialist society.' This implied that arrangements would be made to promulgate new constitution and it was anticipated that the elected National Assembly would be converted into Constitutent Assembly for the purpose of drafting constitution. Such protracted procedure would involve the public and it was perhaps for this reason that the UNP Government rushed the Second Amendment through the National Assembly. The ten-member Select Committee, appointed on November 3, 1977, to revise the constitution included seven members from the UNP, two from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and one from the Ceylon Workers Congress. The members of the Tamil United Liberation