Constitution To Restrict The Politician

220-year History Of Constitution-making

- KKS Perera

‘Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.’ -- Charles de Gaulle

We need a constitution “by the People” that can constricts the politicians. A constitution that regulates, impede, control and keep them within the norms. A committee dominated by politicians or nominated by politicians will not deliver this, but only by a Civil Society initiated institution “of the people”; a civil society minus NGO/Dollar backed units that are rampant today. We need a body with a wide spectrum of intellectual participation that can restrict the task of legislator only to legalisation of the enactment of a constitution “for the people”.

Drafting the constitution to be left in the hands of politicians, whether they are in government or opposition is like leaving the keys of prison gate with the prisoners. We need a constitution to check, restrict, constrain the behaviour of politicians: To prevent them from attempting to tamper and tinker it at their whims and fancies and disallowing of performing some actions that can cause destruction to people’s aspirations and democracy.

HISTORY OF CONSTITUTION-MAKING

We can boast of a 220-year experience in constitution-making; coming under ten reform proposals or draft constitutions which gives us generous lessons in formulating a new constitution. The earliest reforms date back to 1796 when the maritime provinces came under British East India Company – EICby a royal charter—the second reform two years later introduced a combined EIC and Administrator system [like the 19A-Yahapalana] that failed to deliver; it was changed by Royal Charter in 1801. In 1833