Laksiri Jayasuriya
ABSTRACT: The critical analysis of the 2010 Sri Lankan Elections – Presidential and Parliamentary – situates it within the foundational political institutions and practices of a liberal democracy which it argues have been dramatically reshaped by post-colonial politics which saw the introduction of an Executive Presidential style of government, and the regionalisation of politics resultingin a new genre of alliance politics. Post-colonial state politics have however been radically transformed by the 2010 national elections conducted immediately after the ending of the 25 year old civil war. This has witnessed the emergence of a new illiberal political culture of a partial authoritarian constitutionalism that has been fortified by the constitutional changes relating to the 18th Amendment, introduced in 2010 by the new Rajapaksa government. The paper concludes by posing the question: What are the prospects for the future of liberal democracy in Sri Lanka?
published in Asia Pacific World, Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2011 , pp. 25-53(29) … details from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/berghahn/apw/2011/00000002/00000001/art00003
