United in Diversity: A Third Way of Constitutional Vision in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka
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Published:
Dec 31, 2019
Keywords:
Constitution, Federal, Post-Conflict, Sri Lanka, Third, Unitary, Vision, Way
Main Article Content
Abstract
Sri Lanka since independence has been seen to have designed its constitutional vision within the conceptual ideology of Sinhala-Buddhism. This gives insights into how and why a pluralist society should avoid engineering a one-sided constitutional vision. This article investigates the root causes of the Sri Lankan ethnic question from the perspective of its constitutional vision in terms of the nature of the state and the degree of power-sharing. It also seeks to draw a viable constitutional vision to accommodate the concern of all sections of Sri Lankan society from the existing international practice in post-conflict societies. This article shows the inevitability of adopting a germane third way of constitutional vision to reconcile the divided society of post-conflict Sri Lanka and to comply with some consociational elements to address minorities’ issues within the minority region of Northeast Sri Lanka. The conclusions of this article suggest that a third way of constitutional vision would enhance the country’s ability to keep intact its territorial integrity and preserve its diversity.
Article Details
How to Cite
Pushparajah, N. (2019). United in Diversity: A Third Way of Constitutional Vision in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka. Journal of Human Rights and Peace Studies, 5(2), 196–228. Retrieved from https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/HRPS/article/view/171051
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References
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Lerner, H. (2011). Making constitution in deeply divided societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lijphart, A. (1977). Democracy in plural societies: A comparative exploration. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lijphart, A. (2002). The wave of power‐sharing democracy. In A. Reynolds (Ed.), The architecture of democracy: Constitutional design, conflict management, and democracy (pp.38-54). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lijphart, A. (2004). Constitutional design for divided societies. Journal of Democracy, 15(2), 96-109. https://doi:10.1353/jod.2004.0029
McConnell, D. (2008). The Tamil people's right to self-determination. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 21(1), 59-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/09557570701828592
McGarry, J. & O’ Leary, B. (2011). Territorial approaches to ethnic conflict settlement. In K. Cordell & S. Wolff (Eds.), The routledge handbook on ethnic conflict (pp.249-65).London: Routledge.
Minority Rights Group International (2008). World directory of minorities and indigenous peoples - Sri Lanka: Tamils. Retrieved Mar 20, 2019, from http://www.refworld.org/docid/49749ca746.html
Murray, C. & Simeon, R. (2008). Recognition without empowerment: Minorities in a democratic South Africa. In S. Choudhry (Ed.), Constitutional design for divided societies: Integration or accommodation? (pp.305-323). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Northern Provincial Council. (2015, September 01). Resolution: Sri Lanka’s genocide against Tamils. Retrieved Mar 21, 2019, from www.jdslanka.org/images/documents/npc_resolution_on_tamil_genocide.pdf
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Tiruchelvam, N. (2000). The politics of federalism and diversity in Sri Lanka. In Y. Ghai (Ed.), Autonomy and ethnicity negotiating competing claims in multi-ethnic states (pp.197-218). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Uyangoda, J. (2005). Ethnic conflict, ethnic imagination and democratic alternatives for Sri Lanka. Futures, 37(9), 959–988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2005.01.018
Uyangoda, J. (2007). Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: Changing dynamics (Policy Studies 32). Retrieved Feb 20, 2019 from The East-West Centre, Washington www.eastwestcenter.org/system/tdf/private/PS032.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=32178
Uyangoda, J. (2011). Travails of state reform in the context of protected civil war in Sri Lanka. In K. Stokke & J.
Uyangoda (Eds.), Liberal peace in question: Politics of state and market reform in Sri Lanka (pp.35-61). New York: Anthem Press.
Watchdog. (2013, September 19). Development, peace and conflict, politics and governance, Vavuniya: State facilitated colonization of Northern Sri Lanka – 2013. Groundviews. Retrieved from https://groundviews.org/2013/09/19/state-facilitated-colonization-of-northern-sri-lanka-2013/
Welikala, A. (2015). Constitutional form and reform in postwar Sri Lanka: Towards a plurinational understanding. In M. Tushnet & M. Khosla (Eds.), Unstable constitutionalism: Law and politics in South Asia (pp.320-354). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Welikala, A. (2016). The Sri Lankan conception of the unitary state: Theory, practice, and history (CPA working papers on constitutional reform, 1). Retrieved from http://constitutionalreforms.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/CPA-Working-Paper-1.pdf
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Wickramasinghe, N. (2010). Sri Lanka’s independence: Shadows over a colonial graft. In P. R Brass (Eds.), Routledge handbook of South Asian politics, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal (pp.41-51). London: Routledge.
Wijeyeratne, R. S. (2007). Buddhism, the Asokan persona, and the galactic polity: Rethinking Sri Lanka’s constitutional present. Social Analysis, 51(1), 156–178. https://doi:10.3167/sa.2007.510111
Wilson, A. J. (1993). Ethnic strife in Sri Lanka: The politics of space. Regional & Federal Studies, 3(1), 144-169. https://doi:10.1080/13597569308420862
Wolff, S. (2005). Complex autonomy arrangements in Western Europe: A comparative analysis of regional consociationalism in Brussels, Northern Ireland and South Tyrol. In M. Weller & S. Wolff, (Eds.), Autonomy, self-governance and conflict resolution: Innovative approaches to institutional design in divided societies (pp.101-136). London: Routledge.
Wolff, S. (2011). Post-conflict state building: The debate on institutional choice. Third World Quarterly, 32(10), 1777-1802. https://doi:10.1080/01436597.2011.610574
Wright, J. (1999). Minority groups, autonomy, and self-determination. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 19(4), 605-629. https://doi:10.1093/ojls/19.4.605
Zuhair, A. (2008). The power-sharing experience in Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka. International Public Policy Review, 4(1), 47-60. Retrieved from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ippr/journal/downloads/vol4-1/Zuhair.pdf
Bastian, S. (1999, September). The failure of state formation, identity conflict and civil society responses: The case of Sri Lanka (CCR Working Paper: No.2). Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6033.pdf
Bermeo, N. (2002). A new look at federalism: The import of institutions. Journal of Democracy, 13(2), 96-110. https://doi:10.1353/jod.2002.0021.
Bieber, F. (2005). Partial implementation, partial success: The Case of Macedonia. In I. O'Flynn & D. Russell (Eds.), New challenges for power-sharing: Institutional and social reform in divided societies (pp.107-122). London: Pluto Press.
Chelvadurai, M. (1987). Ethnic Conflict and Reconciliation. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Coomaraswamy, R. & Reyes, C. D. L. (2004). Rule by emergency: Sri Lanka’s postcolonial constitutional experience. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2(2), 272-295. https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/2.2.272
Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka. (2012). Census of population and housing (pp.138-164). Retrieved Feb 15, 2019, from http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=FinalReportE&gp=Activities&tpl=3
DeVotta, N. (2002). South Asia faces the failure: Illiberalism and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka. Journal of Democracy, 13(1), 84-98. https://doi:10.1353/jod.2002.0004
Edrisinha, R. (2005). Multination federalism and minority rights in Sri Lanka. In W. Kymlicka & B. He (Eds.), Multiculturalism in Asia (pp.245-261). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Edrisinha, R. (2015). Debating federalism in Sri Lanka and Nepal. In M. Tushnet & M. Khosla (Eds.), Unstable constitutionalism: Law and politics in South Asia (pp.291-319). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Fordinands, T., Rupesinghe, K., Saravanamuttu, P., Uyangoda, J., & Ropers, N. (2004). Sri Lanka peace process at a crossroads lessons, opportunities and ideas for principled negotiations and conflict transformation (CPA discussion paper study). Retrieved from http://www.operationspaix.net/DATA/DOCUMENT/5800~v~The_Sri_Lankan_Peace_Process_at_a_Crossroads__Lessons_Opportunities_and_Ideas_for_Principled_Negotiations_and_Conflict_Transformation.pdf.
Galtung, J. (2005). Power sharing as peace structure: The case of Sri Lanka (IICP working paper, 2, pp.3-23). Retrieved from http://sangam.org/2008/09/Power_Sharing.pdf?uid=3075
Galyan, A. (2014). Learn as we go: The European Union’s involvement in constitution building in the post-conflict Western Balkans. Retrieved Feb 15, 2019 from International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/the-european-unions-involvement-in-constitution-building-in-the-post-conflict-western-balkans.pdf
Hellmann-Rajanayagam, D. (2009). Drawing in treacle: Mediation efforts in Sri Lanka, 1983 to 2007. Internationales
Asienforum, 40(1-2), 59-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.11588/iaf.2009.40.33
Imtiyaz, A. R. M. (2004). Conflict and constitutional solution in Sri Lanka. Indian Journal of Asian Affairs, 17(2), 23-42. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/41950445
Imtiyaz, A. R. M. (2008). Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: The dilemma of building a unitary state. In M. Chatterji & B.M. Jain (Eds.), Conflict and peace in South Asia-contributions to conflict management, peace economics and development’s series (pp.125-147). Bingley: Emerald.
Keethaponcalan, S. I. (2009). Conflict and peace in Sri Lanka: Major documents: with an introductory note on each document. Colombo: Kumaran Book House.
Kelegama, T. (2015). Impossible devolution? The failure of power-sharing attempts in Sri Lanka. Strategic Analysis, 9(3), 237-253. https://doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2015.1022315
Kingsbury, D. (2007). Peace processes in Aceh and Sri Lanka: A comparative assessment. Security Challenges Security Challenges, 3(2), 93-112. Retrieved from https://www.regionalsecurity.org.au/Resources/Files/vol3no2Kingsbury.pdf
Klug, H. (2011). South Africa’s experience in constitution-building. In C. Morris, J. Boston, & P. Butler (Eds.), Reconstituting the constitution (pp. 51-82). Heidelberg: Springer.
Lerner, H. (2011). Making constitution in deeply divided societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lijphart, A. (1977). Democracy in plural societies: A comparative exploration. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lijphart, A. (2002). The wave of power‐sharing democracy. In A. Reynolds (Ed.), The architecture of democracy: Constitutional design, conflict management, and democracy (pp.38-54). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lijphart, A. (2004). Constitutional design for divided societies. Journal of Democracy, 15(2), 96-109. https://doi:10.1353/jod.2004.0029
McConnell, D. (2008). The Tamil people's right to self-determination. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 21(1), 59-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/09557570701828592
McGarry, J. & O’ Leary, B. (2011). Territorial approaches to ethnic conflict settlement. In K. Cordell & S. Wolff (Eds.), The routledge handbook on ethnic conflict (pp.249-65).London: Routledge.
Minority Rights Group International (2008). World directory of minorities and indigenous peoples - Sri Lanka: Tamils. Retrieved Mar 20, 2019, from http://www.refworld.org/docid/49749ca746.html
Murray, C. & Simeon, R. (2008). Recognition without empowerment: Minorities in a democratic South Africa. In S. Choudhry (Ed.), Constitutional design for divided societies: Integration or accommodation? (pp.305-323). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Northern Provincial Council. (2015, September 01). Resolution: Sri Lanka’s genocide against Tamils. Retrieved Mar 21, 2019, from www.jdslanka.org/images/documents/npc_resolution_on_tamil_genocide.pdf
Senewiratne, B. (2016, October 04). Tamils in the north-east protest at last. Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved from https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/tamils-in-the-north-east-protest-at-last/
Smith, D. J. (n.d). Minority territorial and non-territorial autonomy in Europe: Theoretical perspectives and practical challenges. Retrieved from http://bgazrt.hu/_dbfiles/htmltext_files/7/0000000177/David%20J.%20Smith.pdf
Tiruchelvam, N. (2000). The politics of federalism and diversity in Sri Lanka. In Y. Ghai (Ed.), Autonomy and ethnicity negotiating competing claims in multi-ethnic states (pp.197-218). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
United Nations Treaty Collection. Status of treaties: International covenant on civil and political rights: Sri Lanka (status as of 23 May 2018). Retrieved from https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=IV-4&chapter=4&lang=en#EndDec\
Uyangoda, J. (2005). Ethnic conflict, ethnic imagination and democratic alternatives for Sri Lanka. Futures, 37(9), 959–988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2005.01.018
Uyangoda, J. (2007). Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: Changing dynamics (Policy Studies 32). Retrieved Feb 20, 2019 from The East-West Centre, Washington www.eastwestcenter.org/system/tdf/private/PS032.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=32178
Uyangoda, J. (2011). Travails of state reform in the context of protected civil war in Sri Lanka. In K. Stokke & J.
Uyangoda (Eds.), Liberal peace in question: Politics of state and market reform in Sri Lanka (pp.35-61). New York: Anthem Press.
Watchdog. (2013, September 19). Development, peace and conflict, politics and governance, Vavuniya: State facilitated colonization of Northern Sri Lanka – 2013. Groundviews. Retrieved from https://groundviews.org/2013/09/19/state-facilitated-colonization-of-northern-sri-lanka-2013/
Welikala, A. (2015). Constitutional form and reform in postwar Sri Lanka: Towards a plurinational understanding. In M. Tushnet & M. Khosla (Eds.), Unstable constitutionalism: Law and politics in South Asia (pp.320-354). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Welikala, A. (2016). The Sri Lankan conception of the unitary state: Theory, practice, and history (CPA working papers on constitutional reform, 1). Retrieved from http://constitutionalreforms.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/CPA-Working-Paper-1.pdf
Weller, M. (2005, May 25). Towards a general comment on self-determination and autonomy (Working paper, commission on human rights, E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2005/WP.5). Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/Pages/11WGMinorities.aspx
Wickramasinghe, N. (2010). Sri Lanka’s independence: Shadows over a colonial graft. In P. R Brass (Eds.), Routledge handbook of South Asian politics, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal (pp.41-51). London: Routledge.
Wijeyeratne, R. S. (2007). Buddhism, the Asokan persona, and the galactic polity: Rethinking Sri Lanka’s constitutional present. Social Analysis, 51(1), 156–178. https://doi:10.3167/sa.2007.510111
Wilson, A. J. (1993). Ethnic strife in Sri Lanka: The politics of space. Regional & Federal Studies, 3(1), 144-169. https://doi:10.1080/13597569308420862
Wolff, S. (2005). Complex autonomy arrangements in Western Europe: A comparative analysis of regional consociationalism in Brussels, Northern Ireland and South Tyrol. In M. Weller & S. Wolff, (Eds.), Autonomy, self-governance and conflict resolution: Innovative approaches to institutional design in divided societies (pp.101-136). London: Routledge.
Wolff, S. (2011). Post-conflict state building: The debate on institutional choice. Third World Quarterly, 32(10), 1777-1802. https://doi:10.1080/01436597.2011.610574
Wright, J. (1999). Minority groups, autonomy, and self-determination. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 19(4), 605-629. https://doi:10.1093/ojls/19.4.605
Zuhair, A. (2008). The power-sharing experience in Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka. International Public Policy Review, 4(1), 47-60. Retrieved from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ippr/journal/downloads/vol4-1/Zuhair.pdf