Centre for Policy Alternatives on 1 July, 2015 
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, as a member of the March 12th Movement (M12M), is organising a signature campaign in Badulla today. The vehicle parade of M12M has approached Badulla after a long march. And many of the religious / CSO / Political leaders are putting their signatures at this very moment at the function being held at Badulla town. The objective of this campaign is to obtaining 1 million signatures and to submit it to all political leaders, to put pressure on them requesting, not to give nominations to unsuitable candidates.
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 30 June, 2015 30 June 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka: According to the latest ‘Democracy in Post War Sri Lanka’ survey conducted by Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, divisions between people’s opinions on key issues still persist.
On the topic of a credible mechanism look into accountability for what happened during the last stages of the war, 42.6% of Sri Lankans stated that there should be such a mechanism, while 36.3% said no. Among the 32.2% from the Sinhala community who are in favour of such a mechanism, majority (57.8%) said that it should be a mechanism that was exclusively domestic while 34% said that it should be a combination of both domestic and international.
The Tamil community has the least amount of faith in an exclusively domestic mechanism with only 7% in favour of one. 44.9% said it should be an exclusively international one and 35.5% said a combination of the two.
Sri Lankans are divided on whether the National anthem should be sung in Sinhala and Tamil. 29.3% of Sri Lankans strongly agree that it should be sung in both languages while 32.1% strongly disagree. Majority from the Tamil, Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities say that it should be sung in both languages, while only 13.4% from the Sinhalese community state the same.
With regard to the 2015 Presidential Election, around 55% of Sri Lankans agree with the submission that President Sirisena owes his victory to the minority vote, whilst 31.8% do not. From an ethnic perspective, 90.6% from the Tamil community, 85.5% from the Up Country Tamil community, 85.2% from the Muslim community and 44.9% from the Sinhalese community are of the opinion that President Sirisena owes his victory to the minority vote.
Majority of Sri Lankans (73.8%) believe that their vote has an impact on the outcome of an election, a notable increase from 2014 (59.5%). When asked of how free people feel in expressing their opinion on politics, irrespective of where they are and who they are with, 46.6% believe that they are completely free. This is an increase in comparison to 2013 (35.4%) and 2014 (31.2%). Almost 80% of Sri Lankans believe that they have the freedom to choose who to vote for without feeling pressured, a slight increase from 74.4% in 2013.
There has been an increase in the trust that Sri Lankans have for the Army, as 44.2% in 2015 stated that they have a great deal of trust in comparison to the 33.7% in 2014. The Tamil community has the least amount trust in the Army with 52% stating that they have no trust, followed by the Up Country Tamil with 47%.
There has been a notable change in opinion among Sri Lankans when it comes to the Election Commission. 17.2% said that they have a great deal of trust and 45.1% said some trust in the Election Commission, an increase when compared to 2014, where only 7.6% had a great deal of trust and 31% said some trust.
When comes to the media landscape under President Sirisena’s administration, 51.7% of Sri Lankans agree (with 12.7% strongly agreeing) that the media is completely free to criticise the Government as they wish. This is a noteworthy increase when compared to the previous years – 42% in 2011, 42.5% in 2013 and 39.2% in 2014.
‘Democracy in post-war Sri Lanka’ sought to record public perspectives on democracy in Sri Lanka today and the findings are presented under four key sections – The New Government, Security and Freedom, Trust in Institutions and Media in Sri Lanka. The first wave was conducted in 2011 and the second wave in 2013 and the third in 2014.
Conducted in the 25 districts of the country, the 2015 survey captured the opinion of 1987 Sri Lankans from the four main ethnic groups. The selection of respondents was random across the country except in a few areas in the Northern Province where access was difficult. Fieldwork was conducted in March 2015.
Download the report in full here.
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Social Indicator (SI) is the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and was established in September 1999, filling a longstanding vacuum for a permanent, professional and independent polling facility in Sri Lanka on social and political issues. Driven by the strong belief that polling is an instrument that empowers democracy, SI has been conducting polls on a large range of socio-economic and political issues since its inception.
Please contact Iromi Perera at [email protected] for further information.
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 17 June, 2015 Access the dedicated site for the book here.
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Following on from the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA)’s previous two-volume collection, The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice (2012), it represents an experiment with publishing scholarly thinking on issues of constitutional significance in the public interest, which I hope will be successful in informing the way we approach, and think critically about, the great political issues of the day in our country. These debates are too often conducted in an environment of apathy or a lack of comparative and theoretical insights. Your patronage of the site therefore is greatly appreciated and I hope it will lead to similar initiatives in the future.
In 2015, the Second Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka marks the 37th year of its promulgation in 1978, making it the longest serving constitution in post-independence Sri Lanka. It instantiated executive presidentialism as its centrepiece – the institution itself having been introduced prior to its enactment by way of an amendment to the previous 1972 Constitution – which has had a deep and abiding influence on Sri Lanka’s legal and political culture. At the time of its enactment, it represented a radical departure from the models of executive collegiality that had hitherto characterised the constitutional forms of Ceylon / Sri Lanka since the introduction of universal electoral democracy in 1931, and it has since come to dominate both institutional relations within Sri Lanka’s system of government, as well as the landscape of electoral politics more broadly. Ever since its introduction, there has been vigorous debate about the adverse consequences of executive presidentialism from the perspectives of democracy and pluralism.
During the period of its operation, the constitution has been amended nineteen times – with a twentieth in prospect – but the predominant motivation underlying the large majority of these amendments have been to strengthen the presidency at the cost of democracy and checks and balances. Two exceptions to this have been the Thirteenth Amendment, which introduced a framework of provincial devolution but which has not been implemented to the full extent of its potential; and the Seventeenth Amendment which sought to de-politicise key state services, but which was neutralised by the Eighteenth Amendment.
With the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 2010, which by abolishing term limits and the restraints on presidential power established by the Seventeenth Amendment, strengthened and further entrenched the institution even beyond what was contemplated in 1978, Sri Lanka entered a phase of hyper-presidentialism. The changes wrought by the Eighteenth Amendment were only the formal veneer of a more insidious style and approach to government adopted by the regime of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which was based on a package of ethnic chauvinism, populist authoritarianism, and clientelist corruption on a scale not seen before.
Until the dramatic political events in the latter part of 2014 saw the wholly unexpected rejection of the Rajapaksa regime in the presidential election of 8th January 2015, it appeared not only that presidentialism would be with us for the foreseeable future, but also that the entire nature of the Sri Lankan state would be changed beyond recognition under the influence of Rajapaksa presidentialism. With the election of President Maithripala Sirisena and a new government formed under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in May 2015. The 1978 Constitution after the Nineteenth Amendment remains strongly presidential as the Prime Minister’s role has been enhanced only marginally, and even this will depend on the President’s willingness to co-operate with the Prime Minister. The new limits placed on presidential power, however, effect a constitutional regime change, and if well implemented, would ensure that the landmark presidential election of January 2015 was not a mere change of government for the continuation of business as usual. The essays in this book were written long before the change of government in January 2015 and consequently they do not discuss the more recent changes. However, if the current government is returned in the forthcoming general election and, as it has indicated, a new constitution is to be drafted and enacted by the new Parliament, then it is clear that the deeper issues with regard to constitutional reform discussed in this book would continue to have high relevance in informing those future debates.
I have acknowledged in my Editor’s Introduction to the book, albeit inadequately, the support I have been fortunate to receive from my colleagues at CPA. However, I owe a special debt of thanks to my colleague and old friend Sanjana Hattotuwa for setting up this website, for which he deserves much credit.
I hope you enjoy the site and its contents, and I look forward to receiving your comments. I hope even more that the many excellent chapters in it will receive the scholarly and critical attention they deserve.
Thank you.
Dr Asanga Welikala
Editor, (2015) Reforming Sri Lankan Presidentialism: Provenance, Problems and Prospects (Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives).
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 13 June, 2015 13th June 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) welcomes the statement by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe suspending reclamation of land in the Colombo and the forceful eviction of residents under the guise of development. CPA has for some time raised the issue of forced evictions in Colombo under the Rajapaksa regime, where military force and intimidation was used to acquire land, and where communities were forced to relocate to high-rise complexes on the outskirts of the city.
CPA also welcomes the statement made yesterday by the Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development, Harsha de Silva where he further elaborated on the change in approach to the resettlement of low income communities in Colombo. The Deputy Minister stated that in the future, communities would be relocated only if acquisition of the land they are living on is absolutely necessary. He further stated that the National Involuntary Resettlement Policy will be followed in the acquisition and resettlement process and that the current policy of issuing a deed to relocated communities in 20 – 30 years will also be changed.
He also informed that the housing agreement drafted by the previous regime that relocated communities were being asked to sign, has been rescinded. The housing agreement is only available in Sinhala and contained several clauses that were contrary to current law and practice. CPA has for several weeks raised serious concerns regarding this document with officials of the Urban Development Authority as well as relevant Ministers.
On behalf of the Government, the Deputy Minister acknowledged and thanked CPA for its support of the communities, the research it generated on these issues and engagement on them in general.
CPA was involved in documenting relocated communities across the Colombo district, as well as in supporting residents to file a writ application in the Court of Appeal against the illegal acquisition of their private property by the UDA in 2014. The specific changes in the Government’s approach to urban resettlement are those that CPA championed even during the previous regime.
We appreciate the positive steps taken so far by Ranjit Fernando the new Chairman of the Urban Development Authority to address the serious problems and concerns of those relocated to high-rise apartments. We urge the UDA to explore all possible options with regard to the housing of low-income communities, including and especially in-situ redevelopment and upgrading, to eliminate and minimise involuntary resettlement in the future.
The National Involuntary Resettlement Policy must be enshrined in law and the Government must ensure that any development activities involving low -income communities are aimed at the substantial betterment of these communities in all respects. It is crucial that any process that involves involuntary resettlement be a consultative and participatory, bottom–up process that conforms to national and international standards.
Some of CPA’s work on this issue
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 10 June, 2015 
Sri Lanka has long been synonymous with fine tea; with a plantation history dating back to 1862 to an export value estimated to reach US$ 2,500 million this year, the humble beverage is the island’s pride across the globe. Accounting for nearly 14% of the country’s total export earnings, it is among the nation’s most valuable and prized produce.
However, history has and might continue to overlook the most important cogs in the large machine that is the tea industry of Sri Lanka; the people without whose tireless labour this process would grind to a screeching halt – the workers on the tea estates. Descendants of South Indian labourers first sent here in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in the first British plantations, the ‘up-country Tamils’ or ‘Indian Tamils’ constitute 4.2% of the Sri Lankan population.
The Centre for Policy Alternatives has worked with local government on gazettes and policies to develop estate roads, provide addresses to these communities and to furnish several individuals with identity cards. Information and anecdotes gathered during a field study carried out during the months of March and April in estates across the Central and Uva provinces are now presented in a new immersive photo story, accessible here.
The content is also embedded below.
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 8 June, 2015 8 June, 2015
Mr. Maxwell Paranagama,
Chairman
Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons
No. 9/8, Suranimala Place,
Colombo 06.
Dear Sir,
Raising Concerns with the Work and Progress of the Commission
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has monitored and engaged with the Presidential Commission to Investigate In to Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (COI) since its appointment in 2013. CPA has monitored its public sittings and raised concerns about protection and procedural issues such as witness protection, translations and investigations. In the spirit of constructive engagement, CPA has also regularly met with the COI and shared concerns. CPA therefore writes to the COI to raise several new concerns.
The issues raised in the present letter, coupled with issues raised previously by CPA regarding the mandate and operation of the COI begs the question of whether there is genuine willingness by the Government to address issues of truth, justice and reparations.
Media reports indicate that the COI is to issue its final report in August. However the COI office clarified to CPA that this final report only deals with the expanded mandate of the COI to look into matters beyond disappearances, i.e. International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law violations. As on numerous occasions, the COI’s focus has thus shifted from its original mandate to conduct investigations and of truth seeking on the issue of disappearances, to now looking into other matters. Such developments highlights that the new Government too is relying on the tactics of the former regime to delay any independent and credible truth and justice mechanisms.
Furthermore, CPA is concerned with the thousands of complaints that have yet to be heard and processed by the COI and as to whether any information will be shared with the victims, families and affected communities who have testified before it. CPA urges that more information on the process and future plans be released to the public and that that any future process and mechanism are victim- centered, transparent and inclusive.
In light of the issues raised and its implications for transitional justice and reconciliation, CPA will be forwarding this letter to key government actors and media.
Thank you,
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. P. Saravanamuttu
Executive Director
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Download a PDF of this letter here. Also see the following:
