Rajapaksa moves to consolidate his power ‐ The Nation :

The Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, after a stunning military victory against Tamil separatist rebels, is preparing a series of elections in a bid to consolidate power and, according to some supporters, ensure him many more years in office.

Topping the agenda is the presidential election, not due until 2011, but which the government is strongly considering holding in December this year given what is seen as Mr Rajapaksa’s huge popularity. Government ministers have made many statements on the prospects of an early presidential poll this year.

 

The president completes four years of his six‐year term in office in November and by law is entitled to call an early election after that. Also, parliamentary and local elections are due in early 2010. The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is believed to have a good chance of winning.
 
Opposition parties, worried about the lack of a powerful candidate to compete against Mr Rajapaksa, are campaigning to abolish the presidential system of government, a bone of contention for many years and also a “broken” promise made by at least two presidents, including the incumbent, in the past.

 

Suresh Premachandran, a parliamentarian from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) representing the near 14 per cent of the Tamil minority community, said it was unlikely the executive presidential system would be eliminated but noted that his party would support any initiative to scrap it. Like many in the opposition, Mr Premachandran said the system had failed because it creates an autocratic president with unlimited powers.

Another issue of concern, according to media reports, is an attempt by the government to have Mr Rajapaksa continue for several more years beyond the constitutionally stipulated term of office for a president.

 

The constitution bars an individual from seeking more than two six‐year terms as an elected president, but there has been speculation that the constitution may be amended to allow a president to serve more than two terms.

Late last month, the trade and consumer affairs minister, Bandula Gunawardana, told a public meeting in the central town of Kandy that Mr Rajapaksa would continue as the head of state for 20 years. “There was no one who could prevent President Rajapaksa from ruling the country for two decades. The opposition could not pose any challenge to him,” he was quoted as saying in the English‐language Island newspaper.
 
Rohan Edrisinha, a law teacher at Colombo University and the country’s foremost expert on constitutional affairs, said that although the constitution barred a president from serving more than two terms, what is generally being rumoured in government circles is that the term of the Sri Lankan president be changed as happened in Venezuela.

 

President Hugo Chavez, in power since 1992 and who won a referendum to allow an unlimited presidential term, and the Libyan President Muammer Qadafi, in power since 1969, are among Mr Rajapaksa’s closest allies after falling out with leaders of western Europe and the United States over alleged human rights abuses during the military campaign to defeat Tamil rebels.
 
Mr Rajapaksa’s popularity has risen since the war ended in May and this was reflected in a local council election in the country’s mostly Sinhalese‐dominated south‐east region last month where the ruling party won by a landslide, wiping out the main opposition United National Party.

 

Opposition parties are opposed to any extension of power to the president. “We won’t allow it,” said Rauf Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, which looks after the rights of Sri Lanka’s 7.5‐per‐cent Muslim minority community.
 
The SLMC and the United National Party are planning a joint campaign to scrap the presidency. “Parliament has been devalued by this system. Presidents vow to work for the people and be accountable, but once elected they change their stance. Parliament has become a tool of the president,” he said in an interview.

 

He said the president appoints ministers at will, with the government forming a cabinet of 121 ministers from a parliament of 225 members. Many in the government are members of other parties who remain in groups that extend support to the government.
 
“Another problem with the presidency is that the president can dissolve parliament after one year and this is often a threat faced by members,” he said, adding that presidents since the 1990s have used their power without inhibition. “They have total immunity from prosecution and are not accountable to parliament,” he said.

 

President Rajapaksa, in his 2005 election manifesto, stated: “With the consensus of all, I expect to present a constitution that will propose the abolition of the executive presidency and to provide solutions to other issues confronting the country. In the interim, I propose to present a constitutional amendment through which the executive president will be made answerable to the parliament by virtue of holding such office. To endorse the responsibility that the president has to the parliament, I will attend parliament once a month.”
 
None of this has happened. His predecessor, Chandrika Kumaratunga, made the same promise to abolish the presidency before being elected to two full terms.