Tamil Web Log

Nadesan’s wise words

September 5, 2010, 7:35 pm 

The indecent haste with which two far-reaching amendments to our Constitution are being rushed through our Supreme Court and our legislature, took my mind back to 1972. In that year  S. Nadesan QC, counsel for Reggie Siriwardene, Secretary of the Civil Rights Movement, was making submissions on the time limit within which the Constitutional Court must give its decision, together with its reasons. The Bill then in question related to the Press Council. This is what Sri Lanka’s great crusader for human rights, whose legal skill was matched only by his passion for justice, said:

 "What is contemplated is a judicial decision as to whether a provision of a Bill is inconsistent with the constitution. A judicial decision means that the court must judge conscientiously and as correctly as it possibly can. To do this the court must first inform itself regarding the arguments for and against, read the authorities cited, and make up its mind. The human mind is not an automation which can be called upon to make a decision in a limited time without regard to arguments, reasons or precedents. A judge should be convinced of the correctness of his decision before he decides. If he decides with a mental reservation that he has not had time to explore all aspects of a question, he should not decide, as he may decide wrongly, and thus the citizens may be deprived of the benefit of an important safeguard."

எத்தனை தடவை
சட்டத்தைத் 
திருத்தினாலும் 
தென் இலங்கை 
திருந்தாது 

தமிழினத்தின் 
தனமான உணர்ச்சிகளை 
தவறாக புரியும் வரை 
தென் இலங்கை திருந்தாது 

இவை
தேவை இல்லாத்
திருத்தங்கள்

வாக்கு 
எத்தனை வீதம் 
எடுத்தாலும் 
சட்டத்தில் 
தமிழனுக்கில்லை  
தலைமைத்துவம் 
அதனாலேயே 
நாம் நிர்ணயித்தோம் 
தனித்தமிழ் நாடு

மகிந்தவுக்கு 
மக்கள் அளித்த வாக்கு 
குறைந்ததனால்  
மந்திரிகளை 
வாங்கிக் கொண்டார் 

எம்
இனத்தின் பிரச்சனையை 
தீர்க்கப் போய்
தன்
பிரச்சனையைத்
தீர்க்கும் திருத்தங்கள்

அரசியலைப்
புரிந்து கொள்ள 
மக்களுக்கு 
இது நல்ல 
அவகாசம் 

கதிரைகள்   மாறும் 
காலத்தைப் பாருங்கள்
ஒட்டி 
கருத்துக்கள் மாறும்
கலையைக் கணியுங்கள் 

காலம் வரும் 
என்று 
இனியும் 
காத்திராது 
எம் 
கைகளை நம்பி 
களத்தில் 
காரியத்தில் 
இறங்குங்கள்!  
  

More parties back reforms

TNA, Leftists likely to throw in their support

The TNA and the leftist parties of the ruling coalition are likely to vote for the proposed 18th Amendment to the constitution widely expected to be passed in Parliament next Wednesday, well-informed political sources said last night.

The TNA Parliamentary Group will meet tomorrow (Monday) to take a crucial decision on their stand on the proposed constitutional reforms, a senior party MP said. 
The Samajavadi Janatha Peramuna, the combine of the leftist political parties, Communist Party, LSSP and the Democratic Left Front too will meet tomorrow afternoon to take a collective final decision regarding the Amendment.

A TNA MP said the proposed Constitutional provisions will make no adverse impact on the Tamil community. 
“However, the majority of the party MPs feel that they should obtain an undertaking from the government before agreeing to vote for the Amendment that it would at least fully implement the 13th Amendment,” TNA Parliamentarian added.

Meanwhile, the inaugural sessions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party which was elected at the party’s 19th national convention held on August 19, commenced at the party headquarters in Borella on Friday. 
The sessions will continue today. 
The party will decide on whether to vote for the Amendment or not at the Central Committee sessions today, a party leader said.

The LSSP, which met last week, discussed the proposed constitutional reforms at length. 
Politburo members Jayampathi Wickremaratne PC, attorneys-at-law Lal Wijenayake and Percy Wickremasekera had at this meeting taken up the position that the party should oppose the “anti-democratic” reforms.

The party, however, decided to abstain from voting after a lengthy discussion. It decided to hold more talks on this issue with the other two parties of the combine.
The Democratic Left Front, led by Vasudeva Nanayakkara, too, has come round to the view that they being part of the government, should vote for the Amendment.

The three leftist party combine Samajavadi Janatha Peramuna (SJP) which met at the CP headquarters in Borella last Tuesday had discussed the issue for over two hours, party sources said. 
The participants in these talks, DEW Gunasekera, Raja Collure and S Sudasinghe of the CP, Prof. Tissa Vitarana and Wimalasiri de Mel of the LSSP and Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Quintus Perera of the Democratic Left Front, had agreed to defer a final decision until the conclusion of the two day-sessions of the CP’s Executive Committee.

Prof. Tissa Vitarana had told the Tuesday’s meeting of the SJP that he has to vote for the proposed Amendment in keeping with the collective Cabinet responsibility. 
Both Dew Gunasekera and Tissa Vitarana had abstained from expressing their views on the proposed 18th Amendment when it was taken up for discussion at the special cabinet meeting on Monday.
Meanwhile, the majority of SJP leaders feel that their opposition to the bill would serve no purpose as the government had enough support in parliament. 
An SJP leader had told the Monday’s meeting that it was advisable to vote for the Amendment and continue to serve the people as part of the government rather than opposing a Bill which is sure to be passed by a two-thirds majority.

He had argued that quitting the government on this issue “is counter-productive and will be a blow to the leftist movement of the country”. 
He had recalled that none of the leftists could win a seat at the 1977 general election as a result of their quitting the United Left government led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike. “The Left suffered a severe setback following its rout at the 1977 general election. We should not repeat the same mistake again,” he was quoted as saying at the talks.
The government initially had 144 MPs and the support of the eight SLMC MPs will send up the tally to 152. 
Abdul Cader, P.Digambaram and Prabha Ganesan are already in the government. 
The score will mount to 158 with Lakshman Seneviratne, Manusha Nanayakkara and Erle Gunasekera of the UNP voting for it. 
Several more UNP MPs from the Kurunegala, Mahanuwraa and Nuwara-Eliya districts too are reportedly planning to vote for the amendment.