Power sharing in belgium & srilanka

Power Sharing
(BELGIUM & SRILANKA)
By
Alent Cheria Vargehse

POWER SHARING IN :
l BELGIUM
l SRILANKA

Engross.in
Sri Lanka
•About the same as
Haryana
•Just a few kms away off
the southern coast of
Tamil Nadu
Size

Engross.in
Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka
•After independence in
1948, Sri Lanka adopted a
series of majoritarian
measures to establish
Sinhalese supremacy over
the Tamils
•In 1956, an Act was
passed to recognise
Sinhala as the only official
language

Reasons for Alienation
of Sri Lankan Tamils / Majoritarianism in
Sri Lanka

Reasons…
•Dominance of Sinhalese community due to
majority
•1956 Act made Sinhala as the only official
language
•Preferential policies favouring Sinhalese in
university position and jobs
•State to protect and foster Buddhism

Position of Sri Lankan Tamils…
•Launched political parties and struggles for recognizing
Tamil as an official language
•Demanded autonomy
•Equal opportunity in education and jobs
•Political organization was formed demanding an
independent TAMIL EELAM
in North & East Sri Lanka

Engross.in
Effect on Tamils
•The Tamils felt isolated
•They thought that even the
constitution was against
them.
•None of the Political parties
ever considered their needs.
•The Tamils formed
groups,organisations and
parties to fight for rights

Engross.in
Effect on Tamils
•Their demands for
recognition to their
language and separate
state with autonomous
status were repeatedly
neglected.
•This made some groups
like the LTTE to take
violent actions.

Civil War…
Causes
Both sides started
distrusting each other
Effects
Social,Cultural &Economic
setback

Engross.in
Belgium
• Smaller than Haryana
•Borders with France,
Netherlands, Germany
and Luxembourg
Size and Ethnic Composition

Communities & Regions of Belgium
Brussels –
Capital Region –
Dutch were a
Minority
Wallonia –
40% - French –
Rich & Powerful
Flemish – 59%
- Dutch –
benefit of
education and
economic
development.
German – 1%

Power Sharing
by
Accommodation
in
Belgium

Engross.in
Reasons for tension between the two
communities
•The minority French were
rich and powerful
•The majority Dutch got
the benefit of economic
development much later.

Power Sharing - Belgium
•Equal number of Ministers from Dutch and French speaking areas in
the Central Govt.
•No single community can make decisions unilaterally
•Transfer of power from the centre to the state. State govt. will not be
a subordinate to the centre.
•Separate govt. in Brussels with equal representation for the French
and the Dutch.
•Formation of COMMUNITY Govt elected by the people belonging to
one language community Dutch, French and German wherever they
live. This has power regarding
•Culture, education and language related issues.

Power Sharing - Result
The country united respecting the
feelings
of different communities and
regions.

Belgium & Sri Lanka
•Similarities: Both are democracies.
•Differences: Power sharing arrangement is different.
•What is unique about Belgium?
•Leaders have realized that unity of the country is possible
only by respecting the feelings and interests of different
communities and regions.
•What was the drawback in the system followed by Sri
Lanka?
•Dominance of majority community - Sinhalese by refusing
to share power with Tamils resulting in disunity.

Why is Power Sharing desirable in a Democracy?
Prudential
1.Reduces conflicts between
social groups.
2. Stability of political
order.
3. Better outcome.
Moral
1. It is the spirit of
democracy.
2.People have the
right to beonsulted for
governing
practices.
3. Power sharing is
valuable.

Why in a democracy should political
power be distributed?
•People are the source of all power.
•People rule themselves through institutions of
•self governance.
•Due respect is given to diverse groups and views.
•All have a voice in shaping public policies.

Engross.in
The Legislature The Executive The Judiciary
Forms of Power Sharing
•Horizontal OR Check and Balance System
•Each of these organs is placed at the same level to
exercise different powers
•None of them has unlimited power thus maintains
balance.
•Each one of them keeps watch on the functioning of
the other two.
•Hence it is called Check and Balance System

Engross.in
Central Govt.
State Govt.
Local Bodies
•The Central Govt. is set up for the whole nation.
•The state/provincial govt. is set up for each provinces/states.
•The central govt. transfers/shares some of the powers to/with the
state govt. (as in Belgium)
•In a big country like India, this type of two tier system is not
sufficient.
•So we have the third tier – the Local Self Govt.
•Both the Central and State govt. have transferred power and
resources to the Local bodies.
Vertical Power Sharing

Engross.in
SCs
STs
•Socially weaker sections also have to have share in
power.
•Community govt. in Belgium is one example for this type
of power sharing.
•In India, it is done by way of reservation.
•Constituencies and seats are reserved for women, SCs
and STs.
•Thus power is shared among different social groups.
Power Sharing among
different social groups
Women
STs
SCs

Engross.in Power Sharing among Political
parties, pressure groups and
movements
•No political party enjoys power for ever.
•It is for the people to decide who should be in power.
•With the emergence of coalition govt. many parties share
power at the same time.
•Pressure groups and movements have share in power by
exerting pressure on the govt.
•They exert pressure by various means and get policies
framed in their favour.

Summary…
Amongst different organs of
Govt. legislature, executive and
judiciary
Amongst Govts. at
different levels
Different Social
groups, religious/
linguistic
Political parties
,pressure groups and
movements influence
those in power
Horizontal distribution as it
allows different organs to
exercise different powers
A general govt. for
the entire country-
called Centre and
govts. at the
provincial/regional
level. Federal Govt.
Accommodates social
diversities who would
feel otherwise
alienated.
Formation of coalition
Govt. when different
parties form alliances
No organ gets unlimited powers State Govt. Influence of interest
groups-businessmen,
industrialists, farmers and
industrial workers.
Each organ checks the other Constitutional
distribution of power
to the state and
centre
Results in balance of power Same with
Panchayat and
Municipality
All ministers /Govt. officialsare
responsible to parliament/state
assemblies
Vertical division of
power
Judges can also check the work

Power sharing in belgium & srilanka

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