Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena is slowly and steadily winning the hearts and minds of his people by living up to pre-election pledges. In the latest twist, Sirisena, who does not enjoy a majority in his country’s parliament, passed a series of key constitutional reforms that include reducing the powers of the president, restoring a two-term limit in office — a return to parliamentary-style democracy. Sirisena has shown that he is averse to imitating the actions of his predecessor Mahinda Rajapakse, who wanted an uninterrupted grip on power and engineered the constitution to meet his self-serving goals.
Sirisena’s actions, which received overwhelming support in the House — albeit with a few concessions to the opposition — could now be followed up by a call to a snap general election. Victory in the polls would increase the chances of getting a bigger majority and perhaps expedite the passing of additional reforms, which he has pledged to the people. It is astute statesmanship with a view towards erasing any possible political uncertainty in the future and this would allow the public institutions, police, judiciary, elections office and the civil service to run efficiently in the service of the people.
