Proposed Muslim representation changes are disturbing: NMM

From the memorandum submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms

From 1930 the continuous refrain of the political leaders of the Muslim community had been the cry for adequate representation to the country’s legislature. Despite the fact that these demands had been listened to with genuine sympathy both during the last 20 years of colonial rule and over 25 years by the leaders of independent Sri Lanka, practical steps taken failed to measure up to producing fair and adequate representation. This was evidently not on account of any considerable degree of unwillingness on the part of the authorities but due to their failure to strain sufficiently to evolve a fool-proof method to overcome the problems connected with the demography of the Muslims of the country.

Muslim demography is peculiar. The Sinhalese live in large concentrations throughout the seven provinces outside the North and also the East. So do the Tamils in the North and also to a good measure in the East. But the Muslims are a scattered in all the eight provinces outside the Eastern Province where Muslims live in considerable concentrations; Muslims in the Eastern Province account for only 25% of the total Muslim population in the country. Over 1.25 million Muslims in the eight provinces live in nearly over a thousand villages in the country, some large and some small, within the eight provinces.

In an electoral system based entirely on contiguous territory only sections of the population who live in large bodies can normally hope to obtain adequate representation. This is the only reason that under the system the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil communities never faced the problem of adequacy of representation. However, Muslims did gain representation in proportion to their strength in the country only during the period of Proportional Representation (PR) - 1989 to date.

But the system, on account of a multiplicity of drawbacks to the people at large and the country in general, is proposed to be changed through the medium of an SLFP-UNP consensus. The change proposes to provide the country with a mixture of the First Past the Post (FPP) and PR systems, giving primacy to the former.

It is here that the Muslims will, if no appropriate adjustments are made now, face the gloomy prospect of being pushed back into the “dark age” of gross under-representation; appropriate remedial action can, at least, alleviate and minimize the problems to the scattered community.

Now is the right and only moment to make the relevant changes; the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms under Minister Dinesh Guunawardena is reportedly on the verge of finalizing its Report to Parliament where the expected SLFP-UNP consensus on electoral reforms will ensure a two-third majority to make the Select Committee recommendations enter the Statute Book.

Action has to be taken to apportion the 225 Parliamentary seats as between the FPP and PR systems in the manner most congenial to allowing scattered communities to secure adequate representation. A careful analysis of past General Election results show that the ideal and critical ratio of FPP:PR should be 200:25. This is proposed as against the reportedly suggested ratio of 150:72 if the chances of the scattered Muslim community is to have a fair chance of achieving adequate representation.

In this scenario, it is observed that in the past the comparable natural increase in the Muslim population had not reached the critical point to help ensure their election in adequate numbers. Even the increase in the number of electorates up to an unprecedented 160 during the 1976 Delimitation Commission was not sufficient to achieve adequacy of Muslim representation in Parliament.

PR system
Now for the 17 years experience with the PR system. During this period from 1989 to date when the members were elected through the PR method, the Muslims obtained adequate representation, and more, in terms of numbers. This is because when the electoral constituency is very large, such as a District, what mattered was the numerical strength of the Muslims and not their concentration in particular pockets.

But what is significant in the present circumstance of a proposed reduced number through the PR method (eg. Proposed 72) is that a study of voting figures in the General Elections after 1989 reveals that a vast majority of the Muslim electoral victors had won places by obtaining places closer to the bottom of the results sheet. Hence, not to speak of the suggested 72 elected through the PR system, even if the PR:FPP is kept at 50:50, that is 112 in each category, the Muslims will be virtually eliminated from the elected; one or two can hope to get elected from the East and probably none from the other eight provinces.

Secondly, if the PR system has to be changed, as it apparently has to be, one essential step in attempting to afford adequate representation to Muslims is the enhancement of the FPP number to 200 or more. This alone is not enough to achieve the desired result. Reading through the comments of the three FPP Delimitation Commission Reports of 1946, 1959 and 1976, one does not fail to notice admission of the commissioners to their impotence to do justice by the scattered Muslim community on account of the implicit barriers imposed by words used in the electoral laws as they stand. Representation by territory per se was the only criterion up until the arrival of the Soulbury Commission in the late 1940s. They introduced into the electoral laws elements other than that of territory alone into the delimiting of electorates. These are seen in sub-sections 3, 4 and 5 of Section 78 of the Republican Constitution.

The Delimitation Commission (DC) had the Constitution-given discretionary powers under both Constitutions to create electorates to give voice to the sparsely populated rural communities, to areas where transport facilities were poor, to regions where physical features were harsh, to sections of the population with communities of interest, economical, social, racial or otherwise. The successive DCs made great use of those powers to offer relief to various geographical areas and categories of people.

However their representation failed to achieve any significant upgradation of Muslim representation in Parliament. In the pre-independence period and also thereafter the shortfall of elected Muslims was sought to be corrected also through the means of including some appointed Muslims among the six appointed MPs from 1947 till 1970; there were none appointed to the 1977 Parliament because there was no provision for such an appointment under the Republican Constitution.

The only time meaningful and affirmative action to secure Muslim representation was taken in the post independence history of Sri Lanka was when the Parliament in 1988 passed the 15th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution which added a clause in relation to the appointment of the 29 member Nominated List of MPs, also referred to as the National List.

The Amendment, for the very first time, ensured begetting adequate Muslim membership in Parliament. On the basis of the matters presented above it is proposed that critically that the following sub-section be added to Section 78 of the Republican Constitution, which has five sub-sections and deals with the Duties of the Delimitation Commission.

a) Sub-section 3 paragraph 2 requires the Delimitation Commission to “have regard to community or diversity of interests, physical features and transport facilities of its inhabitants”. b) Sub-section 4 sentence 1 refers to “a substantial concentration of citizens” should be replaced with “substantial numbers” and the word “possible” replaced with the word “probable” at the end of the first sentence. The second sentence should be deleted in its entirety.

c) The words “any substantial concentration” should be replaced with “any substantial numbers”.

Conclusion
Before Independence during the period of the Legislative Council from 1910 to 1931 and thereafter the State Council from 1931 to 1947, provision was available for comparatively large numbers to be appointed as members of the Legislature by the then Goverors, and Muslims, who mostly failed to get elected under the totally territorial system were compensated for through the appointment system

After Independence up until the Republican Constitution of 1971 the plight of the Muslims was sought to be improved with some success through the provision of six appointed MPs, buttressed by a degree of representation in the Second Chamber, the Senate.
After a lean period of Muslim representation created by the abolition of the provision for appointed MPs in 1977 and the abolition of the Senate, the provisions in the new constitution of 1978 helped restore to the Muslims their basic right to adequate representation that had previously remained ill attended to for many decades.

Presently, the election laws are on the verge of being amended again through the conclusions of the Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms. News that has recently leaked through the newspapers regarding expected changes are disturbing vis-à-vis Muslim representation.

In the circumstances, it is hoped that the Select Committee which is in its final stages of deliberations will take cognizance of the peculiar problems of the Muslim minority and take appropriate action in order not to downgrade the fair and equitable position that they now enjoy under the present laws; the present position matured in 1981 after several decades of chronic under representation.