Tamil Power-Sharing Propositions in Sri Lanka

• Authors: Kłeczek Rafal
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article is concerned with the proposals for power-sharing solu-tions issued by Tamil political organisations in Sri Lanka between the years 1951 and 2008. The author explores the different solutions of-fered by each of these proposals, and analyses their influence on the political developments taking place in the country. The article brings special attention to how the discourse introduced by the Tamil pro-posals influenced the final shape of the Indo- Sri Lankan Accord of 1987 and how some of the solutions, originally recommended by Tamil associations, were implemented in the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Keywords

EN

Consociationalism; Centripetalism; Power-sharing; Sinhalese nationalism; Sri Lanka; Tamil nationalism

• Publisher: Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskich i Orientalnych PAN
• Journal: Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia
• Year: 2017
• Volume: Tom 1
• Pages: 40-65

Dates

published

2017-06-01

Contributors

author

Kłeczek Rafal

References

• Nira Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka in the Modern Age: A History, New York: Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 183.
• K.M. de Silva, Power Sharing Arrangements in Sri Lanka, Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations “Clingendael”, 2001, p. 7.
• The Tamil name of the party, directly translated, is: “The Party of the Tamil Government of Sri Lanka”. The name implies the existence of a federal political system in the country, which would allow two “governments” to exist simultaneously: the Sinhalese government would head a majority of the country, and the Tamil government the districts with a Tamil majority.
• Franchise laws denote regulations governing the citizenship of inhabitants of a country.
• Asanga Welikala, ‘The Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (Federal Party) and the Post-Independence Politics of Ethnic Pluralism: Tamil Nationalism Before and After the Republic: An Interview with R. Sampanthan’ in The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice, Asanga Welikala (ed.), Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2012, pp. 934–935.
• Ibid., pp. 961, 964.
• De Silva, Power Sharing…, p. 16.
• Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka…, p. 294.
• Ibid., pp. 294–296.
• “Segment” is understood here as a social group characterised by shared identity, and is often based on ethnicity, religion, or the nationality of its members.
• Krzysztof Trzciński, ‘Istota i główne modele power-sharing w kontekście wieloetniczności. Zarys problematyki’ [‘The essence and key models of power-sharing in a multi-ethnic context. An outline of issues’], Przegląd Politologiczny [Politological Review], No. 3, 2016, p. 29.
• Ibid., pp. 33–34.
• Arend Lijphart, ‘The Puzzle of Indian Democracy: A Consociational Interpretation’, American Political Science Review, Vol. 90, No. 2, June 1996, pp. 258–262.
• Trzciński, ‘Istota i główne modele…’, pp. 35–36.
• Ceylon Constitution Order in Council from 1946.
• Rohan Edrisinha, Mario Gomez, V.T. Thamilmaran and Asanga Welikala (eds), Power-sharing in Sri Lanka, Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives and Berlin: Berghof Foundation for Peace Support, 2008, pp. 212–215.
• Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka…, p. 282.
• Welikala, ‘The Ilankai…’, pp. 934–935.
• Edirsinha, Gomez, Thamilmaran and Welikala (eds), Power-sharing in Sri Lanka…, p. 216.
• Ibid., pp. 220–222.
• Ceylon Constitution Order in Council from 1946.
• Edirsinha, Gomez, Thamilmaran and Welikala (eds), Power-sharing in Sri Lanka…, p. 218.
• K.M. de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, London: C. Hurst & Company, 1981, p. 515.
• Edirsinha, Gomez, Thamilmaran and Welikala (eds), Power-sharing in Sri Lanka…, p. 224-228.
• de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p. 530. Comp. de Silva, Power Sharing…, p. 18.
• Edirsinha, Gomez, Thamilmaran and Welikala (eds), Power-sharing in Sri Lanka…, p. 232.
• Ibid., p. 243.
• Ibid., p. 244.
• Ibid., pp. 245–246.
• Ibid., p. 246.
• The Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) 1972, Act 6.
• Ibid., Act 7–11.
• Ibid., Act 2.
• Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka…, pp. 293–298.
• Thiruni Kelegama, ‘Impossible Devolution? The Failure of Power-Sharing Attempts in Sri Lanka’, Strategic Analysis, Vol. 39, No. 3, 2015, p. 245.
• Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka of 1978.
• Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka…, p. 196.
• de Silva, Power Sharing…, p. 7.
• Tamil United Liberation Front, Towards Devolution of Power in Sri Lanka, Madras: Jeevan Press, 1988, p. 5.
• Ibid., p. 5–6.
• Ibid., p. 6–7.
• Ibid., p. 7–8.
• Ibid., p. 47–48.
• Ibid., p. 48.
• Ibid., p. 48.
• Ibid., p. 49.
• Ibid., p. 48–49.
• Ibid., p. 148.
• Ibid., p. 148–151.
• Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, art. 154H.
• Ibid., art. 154L.
• Ibid., art. 154R.
• Ibid., art. 154G.
• de Silva, Power Sharing…, p. 17.
• TULF, Towards Devolution…, pp. 153–156.
• Kelegama, ‘Impossible Devolution…’, pp. 237–253.
• Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka…, pp. 304–307.
• Asoka Bandaranage, The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, ethnicity, political economy, London: Routledge, 2009, pp. 162–165.
• Edirsinha, Gomez, Thamilmaran and Welikala (eds), Power-sharing in Sri Lanka…, p. 670.
• Ibid., pp. 672–674.
• Ibid., p. 665.
• Rohan Edrisinha and Asanga Welikala, ‘The Interim Self Governing Authority Proposals: A Federalist Critique’ in Essays on Federalism in Sri Lanka, Rohan Edrisinha and Asanga Welikala (eds.), Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2008, pp. 296–302.
• Edirsinha, Gomez, Thamilmaran and Welikala (eds), Power-sharing in Sri Lanka…, p. 668.
• Edrisinha and Welikala, ‘The Interim…’, pp. 306–307.
• Edirsinha, Gomez, Thamilmaran and Welikala (eds), Power-sharing in Sri Lanka…, pp. 678–690. Comp. Kelegama, ‘Impossible Devolution…’, p. 245.
• de Silva, Power Sharing…, p. 19.
• Ibid., p. 686.
• Ibid., p. 687.
• Ibid., p. 699.
• Ibid., p. 701.
• Ibid., p. 704.
• Ibid., p. 705–706.
• Ibid., p. 707.
• Ibid., p. 708.
• Ibid., p. 709.
• Kelegama, ‘Impossible Devolution…’, p. 240.
• Asanga Welikala, ‘Introduction’ in The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution: Content and Context, Asanga Welikala (ed.), Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2016, pp. 14–27.
• Sri Lanka Opposition Leader hopes a new constitution would find a permanent solution to the ethnic issue, ColomboPage, 30.06.2017: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_17B/Jul30_1501394003CH.php (accessed 10.07.2017).
• Kelegama, ‘Impossible Devolution…’, p. 244.
• Dayan Jayatileka, ‘The TNA’s ‘Emil Savundra Method’ of Constitution-Making’, Colombo Telegraph, 20.06.2017: https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-tnas-emil-savundra-method-of-constitution-making/ (accessed 10.07.2017).
• de Silva, Power Sharing…, pp. 5–6.