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Sri Lanka Constitution of 1978
After coming to power, Jayewardene directed the rewriting of
the constitution. The document that was produced, the new
Constitution of 1978, drastically altered the nature of
governance in Sri Lanka. It replaced the previous Westminsterstyle , parliamentary government with a new presidential system
modeled after France, with a powerful chief executive. The
president was to be elected by direct suffrage for a six-year
term and was empowered to appoint, with parliamentary approval,
the prime minister and to preside over cabinet meetings.
Jayewardene became the first president under the new Constitution
and assumed direct control of the government machinery and party.
The new regime ushered in an era that did not auger well for
the SLFP. Jayewardene's UNP government accused former prime
minister Bandaranaike of abusing her power while in office from
1970 to 1977. In October 1980, Bandaranaike's privilege to engage
in politics was removed for a period of seven years, and the SLFP
was forced to seek a new leader. After a long and divisive
battle, the party chose her son, Anura. Anura Bandaranaike was
soon thrust into the role of the keeper of his father's legacy,
but he inherited a political party torn apart by factionalism and
reduced to a minimal role in the Parliament.
The 1978 Constitution included substantial concessions to
Tamil sensitivities. Although TULF did not participate in framing
the Constitution, it continued to sit in Parliament in the hope
of negotiating a settlement to the Tamil problem. TULF also
agreed to Jayewardene's proposal of an all-party conference to
resolve the island's ethnic problems. Jayewardene's UNP offered
other concessions in a bid to secure peace. Sinhala remained the
official language and the language of administration throughout
Sri Lanka, but Tamil was given a new "national language" status.
Tamil was to be used in a number of administrative and
educational circumstances. Jayewardene also eliminated a major
Tamil grievance by abrogating the "standardization" policy of the
United Front government, which had made university admission
criteria for Tamils more difficult. In addition, he offered many
top-level positions, including that of minister of justice, to
Tamil civil servants.
While TULF, in conjunction with the UNP, pressed for the allparty conference, the Tamil Tigers escalated their terrorist
attacks, which provoked Sinhalese backlash against Tamils and
generally precluded any successful accommodation. In reaction to
the assassination of a Jaffna police inspector, the Jayewardene
government declared an emergency and dispatched troops, who were
given an unrealistic six months to eradicate the terrorist
threat.
The government passed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary
Provisions) Act in 1979. The act was enacted as a temporary
measure, but it later became permanent legislation. The
International Commission of Jurists, Amnesty International, and
other human rights organizations condemned the act as being
incompatible with democratic traditions. Despite the act, the
number of terrorist acts increased. Guerrillas began to hit
targets of high symbolic value such as post offices and police
outposts, provoking government counterattacks. As an increasing
number of civilians were caught in the fighting, Tamil support
widened for the "boys," as the guerrillas began to be called.
Other large, well-armed groups began to compete with LTTE. The
better-known included the People's Liberation Organization of
Tamil Eelam, Tamil Eelam Liberation Army, and the Tamil Eelam
Liberation Organization. Each of these groups had forces measured
in the hundreds if not thousands. The government claimed that
many of the terrorists were operating from training camps in
India's Tamil Nadu State. The Indian government repeatedly denied
this claim. With the level of violence mounting, the possibility
of negotiation became increasingly distant.
Data as of October 1988
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