Chandrika warned over Constituent Assembly

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, JULY 14. An attempt to use the August 21 referendum to bring in a new Constitution through a Constituent Assembly would be extra- constitutional and illegal, civil society representatives in Sri Lanka have warned.

``The process is as important as the substance (of the new Constitution). Any Constitution that is pushed through by extra- constitutional means will have no legitimacy,'' said Mr. Rohan Edirisinghe of the Colombo University's Law Faculty. Earlier this week, the Sri Lankan President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, prorogued Parliament and called a referendum on the need for a new Constitution. The referendum is legally non-binding on Parliament, where her People's Alliance Government anyway does not have a simple majority, leave alone a two-thirds backing which is required for Constitutional amendments.

But it is believed that if Ms. Kumaratunga wins the referendum, she might convert Parliament into a Constituent Assembly in which a new Constitution can be passed by a simple majority.

Though there is no provision for a Constituent Assembly in the Constitution, the question for the referendum indicates that she might invoke the doctrine of necessity to do this, Mr. Edirisinghe said.

The question is seemingly clumsily worded, but in fact has been carefully framed to describe the new Constitution as a ``necessity'', he pointed out. Fears have also been expressed at the consequences on the peace process of pushing through a Constitution without consulting the LTTE. The National Peace Council, a civic group called on the Government to first engage in peace talks with the LTTE. It warned in a statement that the methods being adopted to bring in a new Constitution were ``at variance with the generally accepted principles of conflict- resolution''.

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Section  : International
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