The report on the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security tabled in Parliament on February 19 has stated that the political parties formed on an ethnic or religious basis too, have contributed to the disruption of peace, co-existence and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.
According to the committee report, “This question too was posed to the committee, which had focused on the new legislative process the country needs after the Easter Sunday attacks. Accordingly, this matter was discussed with members of the Elections Commission and other scholars and the Commission too is of the view that there is a need to stop the registration of such political parties.”
Article 12(2) of the Constitution specifically states, “No citizen shall be discriminated against on grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of such grounds”. Thus according to Article 12 (2), one can argue that the registration and functioning of a political party on a communal or religious basis is a violation of fundamental rights. As per the usual procedure, when a political party is registered with the Elections Commission, the constitution of that party should be presented to the Elections Commission.
The committee report added that the Elections Commission does not register a political party as a party meant only for a particular religion or ethnic group. It should have been built as a party where any Sri Lankan citizen can express his opinion.
During the observations by the Sectoral Oversight Committee it was found that constitutions of political parties that have been registered under names related to ethnic groups or religions contain visions, missions, goals and objectives that constitute a violation of the Constitution. For example, the constitution of a certain political party with a Muslim name states that the objective of that party is to implement the Sharia Law in Sri Lanka. Similarly, the term ‘Eelam’ in many Tamil political party names means a separate state. It thus challenges Article 2 of the Constitution, which states that Sri Lanka is a unitary state.
Leaders of top Tamil and Muslim parties have acknowledged this especially during the unofficial discussions carried out in this regard. They said that they could change the goals and objectives that are not in keeping with the Constitution within a specific timeframe, and simultaneously change the names of parties with ethnic and religious identities as deemed appropriate.
Therefore, the Committee has recommended that the Parliamentary Election Act No.1 of 1981 should be amended appropriately so that political parties are registered to achieve these objectives. The Elections Commission should ensure that the constitution of any political party does not violate the fundamental rights set out in Article 12 (2) of the Constitution. The committee in its recommendations states that when registration is sought by a political party, that party should not be given the registration if the name of the party or its constitution contains any goal or objective that may cause any racial or religious conflict situation that may divide the people and hinder reconciliation.