18th amendment is submission to autocracy, says Mano Ganesan

Certain Tamil and Muslim parties are tactfully taking describing this amendment as an ‘external affair’ to the minorities. Tamil speaking people of this country cannot be ignorant and idle at this historical moment, says Democratic People’s Front (DPF) leader Mano Ganesan.

The 18th amendment aims at reversing all what this country gained during the last decades against the politicization of the state services. It tends to handover total power to the proposed ‘term limit-less’ Executive Presidency by removing all the hard-earned constitutional checks and balances.

Shocking it is that the government prepares to amend the most basic law of the land in one stroke in a ‘one day affair’ in the parliament without substantial national discussion. This ugly urgency tells all, Democratic People’s Front leader Mano Ganesan said today in a statement released by the DPF media office.

The substance of the amendment undoubtedly attacks the independence of the state and police services. The powers hitherto devolved within the state machinery are being taken back onto the hands of the office of a powerful Executive Presidency. This is coupled with the undermining of the functions of the elections mechanism, again through this amendment.

Certain Tamil and Muslim parties are tactfully taking pains to describe this amendment as an ‘external affair’ to the minorities. It is a sinister logic. Tamil speaking people of this country cannot be ignorant and idle at this historical moment. This has to be confronted with a national perspective outside ethnic radiuses. The DPF joins hands with all the democratic forces of the country in opposing this autocratic move.