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| The Hindu Newspaper Editorial Vocabulary : 12 November 2018 -For Various Competitive Exams: Quantamity |
The Sri Lanka crisis deepens
Dissolution of Sri Lanka’s Parliament negates the letter and spirit of constitutional reforms
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has
dissolved Parliament after it became evident that Mahinda Rajapaksa, who he had
appointed Prime Minister two weeks ago, did not enjoy a legislative majority.
It is an act of desperation
to prevent a likely loss of face for both leaders after Mr.
Sirisena’s controversial dismissal of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister on
October 26. Sri Lanka has been roiled by political uncertainty ever since
lawmakers of Mr. Sirisena’s party withdrew support from the ‘national unity
government’ to facilitate
Mr. Wickremesinghe’s removal and the swearing-in of Mr. Rajapaksa in his place.
With many parties questioning the legality of the dismissal, the President
suspended Parliament. This was a move to buy Mr. Rajapaksa time to garner support through defections.
With around 100 MPs each in the 225-member House, both rival camps claimed they
had the majority. But a 15-member alliance of Tamil MPs and six Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna lawmakers refused to support the newly installed regime, and
Mr. Rajapaksa’s continuance became untenable. The President had to ask him to
face possible defeat in a floor test or call elections as a way out.
He has chosen the latter. However, a provision in the Constitution, introduced
through the 19th Amendment by the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration in 2015,
stipulates
that the House cannot be dissolved for four and a half years after a
parliamentary election, unless two-thirds of its total membership seeks dissolution
through a resolution. Mr. Sirisena’s action has come in the face of this restriction.
A fig leaf of constitutionality has been made up,
citing Article 33(2)(c), which says the President has the power to summon,
prorogue
and dissolve Parliament. However, it is difficult to see how a general
provision enumerating
some powers can override
a specific provision elsewhere in the Constitution that expressly
limits those powers. It is only a little over three years since the last
election, and there is no request from MPs seeking the dissolution of
Parliament. The promise held out by the 2015 reforms seems to have
vanished with Mr. Sirisena’s actions. Given the manner in which recent
constitutional reforms have been undermined, the process of writing a new,
inclusive Constitution for the country may no longer inspire much confidence.
The Sirisena-Rajapaksa camp has, expectedly, welcomed fresh elections, claiming
it would reflect the true will of the people. Free and fair elections are, no
doubt, central to a democracy; but when conducted in the wake of the questionable
sacking of Parliament, they may be anything but. The Opposition parties are now
set to challenge the President’s action. Sri
Lanka is at a crossroads where it has to make a crucial
choice between democratic consolidation or a retreat to authoritarianism. The judiciary
has a crucial task at hand.
01. Dissolution (noun) – cessation, termination,
suspension.
02. Negate (verb) – nullify, make ineffective;
deny/reject.
03. Letter and spirit (phrase) – adhering
to/obeying both literal interpretation/wording and the spirit/intent/purpose of
the law.
04. Desperation (noun) – recklessness, riskiness,
audacity.
05. Loss of face (phrase) – humiliation,
embarrassment, disgrace/public shame.
06. Roiled (verb) – make annoyed, make
irritated; make disturbed/upset.
07. Facilitate (verb) – enable, make easier,
expedite/speed up.
08. Swearing-in (noun) – a ceremony at which a
person is admitted into office by taking oath.
09. Buy time (phrase) – delay, linger, waste time.
10. Garner (verb) – gather, collect, accumulate.
11. Defections (noun) – desertion, absconding,
decamping.
12. Untenable (adjective) – unacceptable,
unjustifiable, illogical.
14. Way out (noun) – (possible) way/option.
15.
Stipulates
(verb) – specify, lay down, state clearly.
16. In the face of (phrase) – despite,
notwithstanding, regardless of.
17. Summon (verb) – convene, assemble; ask
for/demand the presence of.
18. Prorogue (verb) – to postpone/terminate a
session of a Parliament without dissolving it.
19. Enumerating (verb) – calculate, compute,
count.
20. Override (verb) – disallow, overrule, reverse.
21. Held out (phrasal verb) – continue, remain,
carry on.
22. Undermined (verb) – weaken, compromise,
subvert.
23. In the wake of (phrase) – aftermath, as a
result of, as a consequence of.
24. At a crossroads (phrase) – at a situation when
an important decision ought to be made.
25. Consolidation (noun) – strengthening,
reinforcement, stabilization.
26. Retreat (noun) – change one’s decision/mind;
do a U-turn, reconsider.
27. Authoritarianism (noun) – autocracy, fascism,
totalitarianism/draconianism.
28. At hand (phrase) – imminent,
approaching/forthcoming, about to happen.
Note:
All meanings took from Oxforddictionaries.com and Google.co.in
only
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