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The current devolved system of governance By Professor
Willie Mendis, The sustainability
of the chosen mode of governance against a background of democracy,
transparency, and accountability, can only be assured if the above
process takes place. It is not a choice that can be imposed on the
people who need to be essentially active participants here. Hence,
it is imperative that the `mindset' of the people is totally immersed
in the practices of governance. Consequently, the culture of governance
must become a `way of life'. In the current
context, a fundamental necessity for every Sri Lankan is therefore
to consciously become a part of the process of reform in governance.
The starting block here is the perusal of the Constitution of the
Republic. The latter has explicitly laid down "the Directive
Principles of State Policy which shall guide Parliament, the President,
and the Cabinet of Ministers, in the enactment of laws and the governance
of Sri Lanka……". The Constitution
has recognised three tiers of governance within a Unitary State.
The President who is the Head of the State, the Head of the Executive
and of the Government, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
shall be responsible to Parliament for the due exercise, performance
and discharge of his/her powers, duties, and functions under the
Constitution and any written law, including the law relating to
public security. The Cabinet of Ministers is charged with the direction
and control of the Government of the Republic, and shall be collectively
responsible and answerable to Parliament. The 13th Amendment
to the Constitution has established a Provincial Council for every
specified Province, subject to the provisions of the Constitution.
Similarly it has been empowered with the supervision of the administration
of Local Authorities established by law. It will be open to any
Provincial Council to confer additional powers on Local Authorities
but not to take away their powers. Delineation List II: A
Provincial Council shall have no power to make statutes on any matter
set out herein, (referred to as the Reserved List). List III: Parliament may make laws with respect to any matter set out herein, (referred to as the Concurrent List), after consultation with all Provincial Councils as Parliament may consider appropriate in the circumstances of each case. The matters
for which Local Authorities have been constituted are independently
enshrined in its own laws comprised of the Municipal Councils Ordinance
(Chapter 252), Urban Councils Ordinance (Chapter 255), and the Pradeshiya
Sabhas Act No. 15 of 1987. The Executive
power of the Government of the Republic is exercised by the President
and the Cabinet of Ministers as aforesaid with the enactment of
laws by Parliament which are consistent with the provisions of the
Constitution. The Executive
power extending to the matters with respect to which a Provincial
Council can make statutes shall be exercised by the Governor appointed
by the President for the Province for which that Provincial Council
has been established, either directly or through the Ministers of
its Board of Ministers. The Board of
Ministers with the Chief Minister at the Head, and not more than
four other Ministers will aid and advise the Governor of the Province
in the exercise of his functions. The Board of Ministers shall be
collectively responsible and answerable to the Provincial Council. Meanwhile,
each Local Authority shall consist of the Mayor/Chairman and Deputy
Mayor/Vice-Chairman, as the case may be, and such number of Councillors
as the Minister may prescribe by Order published in the Gazette.
The Executive power extending to the matters with respect to which
a Local Authority may make, revoke, or amend By - Laws as may appear
necessary for the purpose of carrying out the principles and provisions
of the law on which it has been established, shall be exercised
by the Mayor / Chairman who shall be the Chief Executive Officer
of that Local Authority. All executive acts of responsibilities
which are by its law or by any other written law directed or empowered
to be done or discharged by the Local Authority may, unless the
contrary intention appears from the context, be done or discharged
by the Mayor / Chairman. The Mayor /
Chairman may by Order in writing delegate to the Deputy Mayor /
Vice-Chairman or Commissioner / Secretary or any other Officer of
the Local Authority, any of the powers, duties, or functions conferred
or imposed upon or vested in the Mayor / Chairman by the law on
which the Local Authority has been established, or by any other
written law. Such delegation shall, however, be subject to such
conditions and restrictions and limited to such purpose or purposes
as may be specified in the Order. The latter may at any time be
varied or cancelled by Order of the Mayor / Chairman. Fiscal sharing The sharing
of funds between the Government and the Provincial Councils, is
provided for in Section 154R(3) of the Constitution. It stipulates
that "the Government shall, on the recommendation of and in
consultation with the Finance Commission, allocate from the Annual
Budget, such funds as are adequate for the purpose of meeting the
needs of the Provinces". Accordingly, the Commission will be
required to firstly compute the needs of each of the Provinces and
then aggregate the whole to compute the `needs of the provinces'.
In this connection, since the Provincial Councils have been permitted
revenue sources of their own, including borrowings, the allocation
by the Government would not extend to all the needs of the Provinces,
but only in respect of such needs which they cannot meet by exercising
their fiscal and borrowing powers. The Government guided by the
recommendation of the Finance Commission would then have to meet
the shortfall. With regard
to making a determination on the `adequacy' of funds, the Finance
Commission has been required by the Constitution to " ……..
formulate such principles in making its recommendation, with the
objective of achieving balanced regional development in the country
….. taking into account the need to progressively reduce social
and economic disparities, and the need to progressively reduce the
difference between the per capita income of each Province and the
highest per capita income among the Provinces". At the third
tier of the Local Authority, the Mayor/Chairman of each Local Authority
shall after consultation with the several Standing Committees, submit
to its Council in each year a Budget containing an estimate of the
available income, and details of the proposed expenditure for the
ensuing financial year. The fiscal and borrowing powers of the Local
Authorities supplemented by the grants as may be made by the Provincial
Council, will reflect the income side of the Budget. It shall be
the discretion of the Council of the Local Authority to pass, modify
or reject all or any of the items of expenditure in the Budget. In the above context, it is evident that the powers and the amount of funds at the disposal of the Government of Sri Lanka far exceeds those in the other two tiers of governance. The Provincial Councils are yet evolving its capacity to frame statutes and to raise revenue for its role in provincial governance. The regular holding of the Conference of Chief Ministers in recent years is a progressive step in this regard. Capacity
building "To facilitate the development of an efficient, effective, and forward looking public service through the provision of training, consultancy, and research." The review of
the role of SLIDA in the emerging scenario of reforms in public
management and governance is already underway within itself, and
also in the Administrative Reforms Committee of the Regaining Sri
Lanka Policy Initiative. It has just been assigned the Degree Awarding
Status under the Universities Act of 1978 for the purpose of developing
Post-Graduate Courses in Public Administration, Public Management
and Public Financial Management. On the other hand the focus which is more urgently needed is on the capacity building measures at the second and third tiers of governance. The Sri Lanka Institute of Local Governance (SLILG) established by Act No. 31 of 1999 has been specifically tasked to undertake the capacity building of Provincial Councils and Local Authorities in association with the Provincial Management Development Training Units (MDTUs). Its mission is to provide training to members, officers and servants of these bodies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of their duties. The aim of similar institutions with regard to local authorities being to equip them to carry out its mandated functions, are as follows: "Regulation,
control and administration of all matters relating to public health,
public utility services, and public thoroughfares, and generally
with the protection and promotion of the comfort, convenience, and
welfare of the people, and the amenities." Local authorities
also derive powers as designated Planning and Executive Authorities
under two Planning Statutes comprised of the Urban Development Authority
Law and the Town and Country Planning Ordinance. These empower the
Local Authorities to prepare Development Plans to promote and regulate
the integrated planning and implementation of economic, social,
physical and environmental aspects of land in their respective areas.
Each such Plan in its corresponding Local Authorities area is accompanied
by Planning and Building Regulations which reflect the promotion
of its aforesaid statutory functions. Thus, the Schedule in the
respective Planning Statutes specifically includes `public utilities'
and `thoroughfares', as matters for which provision may be in the
Development Plan and therefore for its regulation. Co-terminously,
these are the two sectors undergoing radical reform at the first
tier of governance, particularly in respect of water supply, electricity,
telecommunications and expressways. These are growth areas from
which new revenue too can be derived in significant amounts, provided
the Local Authorities develop their capacities to capture the benefits
from similar structures. The means for it rely on the coupling of
the Regulations in its Development Plan with the corresponding Regulations
of the public utilities, at the first-tier of governance. Natural
resources In these circumstances,
the second and third tiers of devolved governance must now respond
by `leapfrogging' in its capacities to benefit from the economic
reforms being initiated at the first-tier of governance. What is,
however, evident now is that the economic reforms are outpacing
the efforts of the SLILG in leaps and bounds. Such a divide is becoming
embarrassingly visible due to the country being small and the performance
of its tiers of governance exposed to contrasts being in close proximity
to each other. The latter is the key lesson of experience in the
already devolved system of governance in Sri Lanka. The time is
therefore opportune to arrest and remedy this situation. A possible
means is to propel upwards the significance of the SLILG by referencing
it with the Regaining Sri Lanka Policy Initiative. Its Action Plan
will then become compulsory indexed with the National Operations
Room (NOR) at the highest level of the first-tier of governance.
The motivation derived from the latter may be the paradigm shift
envisaged in the process of devolved governance. The above may result
in the reinforcement of the perception of a centre-driven model
for devolved-governance, in contrast to the demand from the periphery.
Some analysts have deduced that the already devolved system of governance
is ineffective because it has been constructed by the centre to
specifically deal with the threat of the `separatist conflict'.
At the same time, it can be argued that the backdrop of social and
economic disparities in various parts of the country, (inspite of
its smallness), obligates the centre to prompt action for its mitigation.
The recent creation of the Regional Economic Commissions of the
BOI may be called such a centre-driven response. On the other hand
it, like others created before, does not manifest governance, which
have attributes far different to what can be expected from the BOI.
Consequently, the shortcomings of the already devolved system of
governance may be for reasons to be found elsewhere. It firstly
points to the urgency for establishing public confidence in the
instruments of devolved governance. The latter in return highlights
the importance of capacity building measures in the devolved institutions,
embracing both public management and governance. The generation
of public confidence in any system of devolved governance, whether
in two-tiers or in three-tiers, and whether induced or demand -driven,
can only be assured, if it is efficient, effective, and citizen-responsive.
This implies the enveloping of the dynamics of change in the right
mix to construct the most appropriate system of governance. The
organic nature of the same points to the heavy responsibility cast
on the SLILG in carrying out its mission. The fortune of the wisdom
of Parliament in its establishment in 1999 can well be the centrepiece
of the matrix of institutions to emerge from the process of reforms
in public management and governance being discussed in the Peace
Talks and elsewhere. The SLILG must
complement the institutions emerging from the reform process of
the Regaining Sri Lanka Policy Initiative which will create the
environment for healthy competitiveness in the devolved units of
governance. Its partnership with them in association with the MDTUs
can be consolidated with the statutory Physical Development Plans
prepared under the guidance of the UDA and the National Physical
Planning Department. This will bond the Provincial Councils and Local Authorities with the national initiatives of the government. It will then glue the missing fuse to activate the dynamism of devolved governance. The outcome here will be the best test of public confidence on the already devolved system of governance in the country. |
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