1. Preamble

1.1 To the First Parliament of Ceylon for which elections were held in 1947, Ceylon Tamil members were elected from all the 9 electoral districts of the North, namely, Kayts, Vattukottai, Kankesanturai, Point Pedro, Kopay, Jaffna, Chavakachcheri, Mannar and Vavuniya.. In the East, Ceylon Tamil members were elected from the 3 electoral districts of Trincomalee, Kalkudah and Pattiruppu while Muslim members were elected from the 4 electoral districts of Mutur, Batticaloa, Kalmunai and Pottuvil. Outside the North and East, Muslim members were elected from the electoral districts of Puttalam and Colombo Central, although more than 60% of the Muslim population of the country lived outside the North and East. No Ceylon Tamil members were elected from outside the North and East. Tamils of Indian origin were elected from the 7 electoral districts of Nuwara Eliya, Maskeliya, Kotagala, Badulla, Nawalapitiya, Badulla and Alutnuwara.

1.2 In the First Parliament comprising 95 elected members and 6 appointed members, the Tamils and Muslims had a total strength of 25 members, that is, 26.3% of the elected members.

1.3 The Ceylon Citizenship Act which was enacted by the First Parliament decitizenised and disfranchised the Tamils of Indian origin, and made them stateless. As a result, in the Second Parliament to which elections were held in 1952, the 7 electoral districts represented in the First Parliament by 7 Indian origin Tamils were represented by 7 Sinhalese members.

1.4 As in the First Parliament, in the Second Parliament too, Ceylon Tamils represented all the 9 electoral districts of the North while the 7 electoral districts of the East were represented by 4 Ceylon Tamils and 3 Muslims. In addition, 4 Muslim members were elected from the electoral districts of Puttalam, Kadugannawa and Colombo Central (2 members), all outside the North and East.

1.5 In the Second Parliament, also comprising 95 elected members and 6 appointed members, the elected representation of the Tamils and Muslims reduced from 25 to 20, that is, 21.0% of all those elected. The beneficiaries were the Sinhalese.

1.6 The plight of the Tamils and the Muslims remained the same in the Third Parliament, elected in 1956. The Sinhala Only Act found its place in the statute book during the term of the Third Parliament.

1.7 In the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Parliaments, the number of elected members was increased from 95 to 151, while the number of appointed members remained fixed at 6. To the Fourth Parliament elected in March 1960, Ceylon Tamil members were elected from all the 12 electoral districts of the North, while 5 Ceylon Tamils members and 5 Muslim members were elected from the 10 electoral districts of the East. In addition, 5 more Muslim members were elected from the electoral districts of Puttalam, Beruwala, Akurana, Galagedera and Colombo Central.

1.8 The Fourth Parliament, elected in March 1960 had only a total of 27 Tamils and Muslims out of the 151 elected members, that is, a mere 17.3% of all elected members.

1.9 This pattern continued in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Parliaments as well.

1.10 The Seventh Parliament, elected in 1972 also functioned as the National State Assembly to give a republican constitution to the country. Following the enactment of the republican constitution, the second chamber of Parliament, the Senate, was abolished. So was the system of appointing members to Parliament.

1.11 The republican constitution tasked a Delimitation Commission with determining the number of members to the next Parliament on the basis of one member for every 75,000 residents (not citizens) and one member for every 1,000 square miles of area of a Province. The latter conditionality was expected to improve the representation of Ceylon Tamils and Muslims, particularly in the East. The Delimitation Commission came up with a proposal of 168 territorially elected members in the next Parliament, including multi- member territorial constituencies.

1.12 In the Parliament elected in 1977, all the 15 electoral districts of the North elected Sri Lankan Tamil members, while in the East, 5 Sri Lankan Tamil and 5 Muslim members along with 2 Sinhalese members were elected. This was the first occasion on which Sinhalese members were elected from the East and from newly carved out electoral districts of Seruvila in the Trincomalee District and Amparai in Amparai District. These electoral districts occupied nearly one-half of each of the Districts of Trincomalee and Amparai.

1.13 Outside the North and East, 7 Muslim members were elected from the electoral districts of Puttalam, Beruwala, Harispattu, Balangoda, Borella and Colombo Central (2 members). One member from among the Indian origin Tamils was elected from the Nuwara Eliya Maskeliya electoral district. The election of this member from among the Indian Origin Tamils was possible after a lapse of 25 years due to the fact that a slow process of granting Sri Lankan citizenship to a certain number of stateless persons under the Sirima-Shastri Pact was already in motion.

1.14 The 1977 Parliament which had 168 members elected on the First Past the Post (FPP) system had only a total of 33 Tamil and Muslim members, that is, a mere 19.6%.

1.15 The Second Republican Constitution stipulated that the next Parliament should comprise of 196 members made up of 160 members distributed among districts on the basis of the tnumber of electors in that district and an additional 36 members on the basis of 4 members per Province, all elected on the basis of proportional representation (PR) within districts, with a cut-off of 5% of the total votes polled in a district. A further 29 members were to be apportioned among all political parties contesting the election in accordance with the total number of ballots received by each of them. This system gave the Sinhalese majority who were 74.0% of the population, representation exceeding 82.0% in Parliament. All hopes of rectifying previous imbalances in the representation of ethnic minorities in Parliament were dashed by this system.

2. Conclusions

From the foregoing paragraphs, it would be clear that:

(1) The ethnic minorities of this country have not had their due share in parliamentary representation. The proportional representation system of elections made matters worse.

(2) In all the Parliaments, other than the present Parliament, the Sri Lankan Tamils had been able to secure their representation only from the North and East of the country.

(3) The Tamils of Indian origin are in a position to secure their representation mainly from Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts.

(4) The Muslims of whom more than 60% live scattered outside the North and East are in a position to secure their representation only from the East and from certain single or designated multi-member constituencies located outside the North and East.

3. Proposals

3.1 Determination of the Number of Members
When Provincial Councils were established and powers devolved to them in 1988, the role of Parliament in respect of development activities should have reduced, and consequently, there should have been a reduction in the number of members in Parliament.

With a federal constitution in the near future, a second chamber (Upper House) would have to be established. This would also call for a reduction in the number of members to the Lower House. The AITUF therefore proposes the following in respect of the number of members:

(1) The total membership of both Houses of Parliament to be 240 members. This could be increased by about 5 for reasons of satisfying the conditionality attached to designated multi-member constituencies.

(2) The Upper House could be restricted to 40 members. Until the Upper House comes into being, the membership of the Lower House to be 240. When the Upper House does come into being, the number of members in the Lower House to be reduced to 200.

(3) In the first instance, the Lower House to consist of 120 members elected from territorial constituencies, and 120 members elected through proportional representation. When it is decided to establish the Upper House, the number of members to be elected through proportional representation to the Lower House to be reduced to 80.

(4) Every elector to be issued with two ballot papers, one to vote for the candidate for the territorial constituency, and the second ballot paper to vote for the party of his choice in the district.

(5) If proportional representation on provincial basis is being contemplated, the second ballot paper to contain the names of all the political parties contesting in the province. Otherwise, the smaller parties and ethnic minorities would be adversely affected.

(6) The cut-off for the proportional representation system to be the natural cut-off.

3.2 Delimitation
A Delimitation Commission should be appointed by Parliament to carve out the territorial constituencies, inclusive of designated multi- member constituencies. The AITUF would be pleased to appear before the Commission and provide clarifications or assistance. The AITUF however wishes to place the following matters before the Select Committee for consideration while formulating the terms of reference of the Delimitation Commission:

(1) The composition of the Parliament (both Houses) should reflect the ethnic composition of the country. This is achieved in the first instance by the delimitation of territorial constituencies to ensure adequate Tamil and Muslim representation through the First Past the Post (FPP) system.

(2) In areas in which the minority communities are dispersed among the majority community, in general, their votes benefit a candidate from the majority community. It is therefore important that areas of concentrations of minorities are identified and electoral districts carved out suitably to help the minorities.

(3) Designated multi-member constituencies are another means of ensuring adequate representation of Tamils and Muslim. As an example, if a Sinhalese, a Tamil and a Muslim were stipulated to be elected from a 3-member constituency, and at the election, two Sinhalese and one Tamil were the first three candidates, the Muslim candidate with the next highest votes would also get elected as the fourth member.

(4) There are over 1.7 million Sri Lankans living outside Sri Lanka. The main reasons for their temporary stay outside Sri Lanka are personal security and/or foreign employment. All those who have gone abroad only for employment purposes retain their Sri Lankan citizenship and their names continue to appear on the electoral registers in Sri Lanka. The vast majority of the others who had left Sri Lanka for reasons of personal security have gone with their families. Some of them have acquired dual citizenship. But what should concern the Select Committee is the right to franchise of Sri Lankan citizens abroad, that is, the right to be enrolled in the electoral register of a district, and to be able to vote at elections and referenda. However, due to the situation that had prevailed in the country for more than 20 years, around 500,000 Sri Lankan adult citizens living abroad do not have their names on the electoral registers and are unable to exercise their franchise. Hence the electoral registers should not be the basis for carving out the territorial constituencies.

(5) The National Census of 2001 was not finalised in 7 out of 8 districts of the North and East. This was due to the unsettled conditions in the country at the time of the Census. There was a war and citizens had been displaced, both internally and externally. The unsettled conditions continue. Hence, the incomplete National Census of 2001 should not be used as the basis for carving out territorial constituencies.

(6) Until an environment of permanent peace returns to Sri Lanka, the ethnic composition of the country for the purpose of electoral reforms should be the ethnic composition as recorded by the National Census of 1981, namely:

Sinhalese	74.0 %
Tamils	12.6 %
Muslim	7.1 %
Indian Origin Tamils	5.6 %
Others	0.7 %
Total	100.0 %

               
(7) On the basis of the ethnic composition given above, the 120 territorial constituencies should be apportioned as follows:

Sinhalese	89
Sri Lankan Tamils	15
Muslims	9
Indian origin Tamils	7
Total	120

          

(8) The administrative districts of Killinochchi, Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu to be treated as 4 separate territorial constituencies, electing Sri Lankan Tamil members, and the Jaffna District to be divided into 5 territorial constituencies electing Sri Lankan Tamils.

(9) The Trincomalee administrative district to be a 3-member territorial constituency electing one Sri Lankan Tamil, one Muslim and one Sinhalese to Parliament.

(10) The Batticaloa town constituency to be a dual-member constituency electing one Sri Lankan Tamil and one Muslim.

(11) Sri Lankan Tamils to be able to elect 2 other members from Kalkudah and Pattiruppu.

(12) A 3-member constituency to be carved out in the Kalmunai- Pottuvil area to elect 2 Muslims and 1 Sri Lankan Tamil.

(13) The Colombo South area to be a designated 2-member constituency to elect 1 Sinhalese and 1 Sri Lankan Tamil.

(14) The Colombo Central area to be a designated a 3-member constituency to elect 1 Sinhalese, 1 Indian origin Tamil and 1 Muslim.

(15) Territorial constituencies to be carved out in Puttalam, Beruwala, Akurana and Galagedera to enable 4 Muslim members to be elected.

(16) Territorial constituencies to be carved out in Nuwara Eliya, Maskeliya, Kotagala, Badulla, Bandarawela and Nawalapitiya to enable the election of 6 Indian origin Tamil members.

(17) By the carving out the territorial constituencies as proposed above and suitably adopting the PR system, it would be possible to ensure a similar ethnic distribution of members elected on PR.

(18) Vacancies occurring in the territorial constituencies should be filled through by-elections. Vacancies occurring among members elected on PR should be filled by the next candidate on the List of the party which experienced the vacancy.

3.3 Franchise of Citizens living outside Sri Lanka
The AITUF proposes the following with regard to the franchise of Sri Lankan citizens living abroad:

(1) The necessary provisions to be made in the law to enable Sri Lankan citizens living outside the country for more then 6 months to register themselves as electors and to enable them to vote at parliamentary, provincial council, local authority and presidential elections, and at referenda.

(2) The Sri Lankan missions abroad should be made use of for the registration of electors living abroad, for receiving applications for postal voting, and for forwarding ballot papers to the elector in his country of residence. A citizen qualified to be an elector could be registered as an elector in the electrical district of his birth, or his last place of residence in Sri Lanka.

(3) The elector could mark his ballot paper in the office of a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner of Oaths or a Staff Officer of the government of the country concerned and the certificates completed as is done within Sri Lanka. The marked ballot paper in sealed envelope could then be couriered to the respective returning officer in Sri Lanka.

3.4 Registration of Political Parties
There is no law for the registration of political parties. However, there is provision under section 7 of the Parliamentary Elections Act No.1 of 1981 for the recognition of political parties by the Commissioner of Elections. This provision does not provide for the de-recognition of political parties that are defunct or inactive. As a result, the Commissioner is saddled with a long list of parties, of which more that 50% are defunct or inactive.

The AITUF proposes that Parliament should enact a separate law for the Registration of Parties. The law should, inter alia, provide for the automatic registration of all parties currently recognized, and, for the immediate de-registration of political parties that had not contested a single election, parliamentary, provincial council, local authority or presidential, during the past 12 years. There should also be an annual review of the registered political parties thereafter by the Commissioner of Elections.

3.5 Prevention of Illegal Practices at Elections
The following recommendations are made from the experiences of members of the AITUF:

(1) The delivery of polling cards should be the responsibility of the Post Master General. Bundles of polling cards issued to a household should also be accompanied by an acknowledgement slip which would contain the names of the electors whose cards are being delivered. The recipient should be required to return to the nearest post office the polling cards of electors who are either dead on abroad, suitably endorsed on the acknowledgement slip. These polling cards must be handed over to the post office at least on the day previous to the date of polling. Failure to hand over such cards to the post offices should be made an election offence. The Grama Sevaka Officers should not be permitted to handle polling cards.

(2) When transport facilities are provided to electors by the returning officer for whatever reason, the police should ensure that no person who does not possess a polling card and a valid identity document corresponding to that card is permitted to board the transport vehicle provided by the state.

(3) The police should be required to check within 500 metres of a polling station the identity and polling card of any person claiming to be an elector. Any candidate at the election or any of his agents should be able to invite the attention of any police officer in the vicinity of a polling station of this requirement.

(4) In order to ensure free and fair elections the senior presiding officer at every polling station should be a staff officer from outside the Province. Such an outsider would be able to function without fear.

(5) Every elector should be required to provide proof of his identity before being issued with a ballot paper. The officer at the polling station who examines the documentary proof of identity of an elector should record his initials against the particular elector’s name confirming that he had satisfied himself of the elector’s identity.

Dr.K.Vigneswaran
General Secretary.

27 July 2006