The President has declared a state of emergency throughout Sri Lanka through the Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. 2243/1 dated 30th August. According to the gazette notification, the President has declared that the Emergency Regulations for the provision of essential food items will be implemented throughout the island in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of Part II of the said Ordinance in accordance with the powers vested to the President under Section 2 of the Public Security Ordinance.
Sri Lankans who lived under a state of emergency for about 40 years from 1971 to 2011 lived without a state of emergency for a very short time. The state of emergency, which had been normalized for several previous generations except the teenage generation, has been re-imposed.
The President’s statement, the statements made by the government ministers and the statements made by the government representatives during the parliamentary debate indicate that this state of emergency is essential to defeat the business mafia and to provide the people with the essential services and food they need.
Part Two and Section 5 of the Public Security Ordinance
According to the President’s announcement, the President has implemented the second part of the Public Security Ordinance and implemented the Emergency Regulations in accordance with the provisions of Article 5. To the President in accordance with Article 5 of that Second Part;
To regulate public safety, public order and to suppress civil unrest or to maintain the provision of essential goods and services as the President deems fit, permit and facilities to detain persons, and to take over any property or business Permission to control, take over by the government any property other than land, permit to enter and inspect any premises, to amend any law, to suspend the enactment of any law, and to enforce any law with or without modification And empowers the courts to make arrests and punish offenders in the form of court-martial trials and to make provisions for such regulations.
In addition, Article 7 of Part II states that the Emergency Regulations apply to all other laws. Article 8 also states that the emergency regulations and orders imposed under this Act cannot be questioned in any court of law.
Part III and Section 17 of the Public Security Ordinance
Section 17 of Part III of the Public Security Ordinance deals with the essential services provided by the President. The article also contains a number of strict regulations on the implementation of essential services. If the President had a genuine desire to solve the problem of the implementation of essential services, he could have at least implemented Part III of the Public Security Ordinance. But why didn’t he do it?
That is when the suspicion of the above-mentioned true woman arises. Article 17 contains a very specific point regarding the trade unions and their actions. That is, the initiation of a trade union action in connection with an industrial dispute in the manner defined by the Industrial Disputes Act does not constitute a breach of the rules of this third section. That is to say, the implementation of this third section gives some freedom to trade union action and workers’ rights. It seems that the President does not want to give that kind of or limited freedom to trade union action, he is talking about essential services and implementing the most repressive second part instead of implementing the third part which is directly related to essential services.
Are there no other laws to enable essential services, to act on behalf of customers, to deal with disasters?
The Legislature enacts and enforces a number of other common laws in the country relating to the implementation of essential services, consumer protection as well as disaster management, that is, the pursuit of the objectives of the President.
The most important law in Sri Lanka regarding the implementation of essential services is the Essential Public Services Act No. 61 of 1979. Pursuant to Article 2, the President has the power to gazette services as essential services. This government too has already gazetted 12 services as essential services under this Act.
The Consumer Affairs Authority Act No. 9 of 2003 is the foremost law in the country to protect consumers. Articles 15, 16 and 17 introduce a number of measures to protect consumers. It also includes lawsuits that can be filed directly. It also has the power to prohibit and confiscate goods under Article 58.
The Disaster Management Act No. 13 of 2005 was drafted and passed by Parliament with the participation of many parties in the event of a disaster caused by an epidemic or other natural disaster. This bill comes after the tsunami disaster, the worst natural disaster Sri Lanka has ever faced. This Act is perfect considering the problems faced by the state machinery in the aftermath of that catastrophe as well as elaborating on any kind of catastrophe that may arise in the future. The scholars who prepared this were wise enough to include in the scope of the catastrophe, especially in the event of an epidemic.
Following the passage of the Disaster Management Act, the mechanism for this was set up. Accordingly, a mechanism consisting of District Secretariats, Divisional Secretariats, Police Stations, Army Bases and National Level Institutions island wide has been set up and is already in operation. According to Article 11 of this Act, the President has the power to declare a state of disaster. But the president seems to have relied on the military without any limits.
Accordingly, the President set up an anti-Covid Task Force to head the Army Commander. It is also no secret that the issuance of media statements, vaccinations and other activities related to the repression of Covid was underestimated by health workers and organized to highlight the military. However, there is a tendency for educated doctors to leave the force. In particular, the President has already appointed the Military General and Admiral as the Heads of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Consumer Affairs Authority is also governed by a retired Major General. Now, with the declaration of this state of emergency, a retired Major General has been appointed as the Commissioner General of Essential Services.
It is clear that the President has more faith in the military than in the civilian state apparatus in controlling this epidemic situation and in controlling the country in the midst of this epidemic. The President’s continued declaration of this state of emergency shows that the President has faith in repressive laws, not ordinary laws, to control the epidemic and rule the country in the event of an epidemic. Although it is ridiculous for an anti-patriotic President to rule a country with repressive colonial laws such as the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance 1893 and the Public Security Ordinance No. 25 of 1947, but citizen should immediately heed his suggestion.
-Lawyer Dulan Dasanayake-