POWER SHARING
An intelligent sharing of power among Legislature, Executive and Judiciary
is very important for democracy
Belgium:-
Belgium is a small country in Europe. It has a population of a little over
one crore and sharing its borders with France, Netherlands, Germany and
Luxembourg.
Ethnic composition of Belgium:-
59% people live in the Flemish region and speaks Dutch.
40% people lives in the Wallonia Region and speaks French.
Rest 1% speaks German.
But in capital city Brussels 80% people speak French while 20% are
Dutch speaking.
Cause of resentment:-
The minority French speaking people were relatively rich and powerful
than the majority Dutch community. Dutch community got the benefit of
economic development and education much later. This led to tensions
among them during 1950-60. The tension was more acute in Brussels. The
Dutch speaking people were in majority in the country but a minority in
the capital.
Sri Lanka:-
Sri Lanka is an island nation. It has a diverse population of about 2 crore.
Ethnic composition of Sri Lanka:-
74% Sinhala speakers – Buddhist
18% Tamil speakers – Hindus and Muslims
There are two sub-groups among Tamil speakers-
i. 13% Sri Lankan Tamil
ii. 5% Indian Tamil ( whose forefathers came from India as plantation
workers during colonial period.)
7% Christians – Tamil and Sinhala
Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka:-
After emerging as an independent country in 1948, Sri Lanka adopted
majoritarianism. As a result of this, the government adopted a series of
measures to establish Sinhala supremacy. Like:-
i. An act was passed to recognize Sinhala as the only official language in
1956.
ii. The governments followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala
applicants for university positions and government jobs.
iii. A new law stipulated that the state shall protect and foster Buddhism.
As a result of all these measures gradually increased the feeling of
alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamil. By 1980s several political
organisations were formed demanding an independent Tamil Eelam with
regional autonomy and equality of opportunity in securing education and
jobs which was repeatedly denied. This distrust between the two
communities turned into widespread conflict and finally into Civil-War.
Accomodation in Belgium:-
The Belgium leaders recognized the existence of regional differences and
cultural diversities for that they amended their constitution four times
between 1970 to 1993.
Some of the key elements of Belgium model are:-
Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French speaking
ministers shall be equal in the central government.
To take decisions, the support of majority of members from each
linguistic group is made mandatory. Thus no single community can
make decisions unilaterally.
Many powers of the central government have been given to state
governments. The state government are not sub-ordinate to the
central government.
In Brussels, both the communities have equal representation in
government.
Apart from central and state government there is a third kind of
government called “Community Government”. The representatives of
this government is elected by people belonging to one language
community – Dutch, French and German speaking no matter where
they live. This government has the power regarding cultural,
educational and language related issues.
Why power sharing is desirable?
There are two sets of reasons.
i. Prudential reasons
ii. Moral reasons
Why power sharing is desirable?:-
Prudential Reasons:-
Power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of
conflict between social groups.
Power sharing is a god way to ensure the stability of political order.
Tyranny of the majority is not just oppressive for the minority, it often
bring ruins to the majority as well.
Moral Reasons:-
Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy.
People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed.
A legitimate government is one where citizens through participation
acquire a stake in the system.
Forms of Power sharing:-
When power is shared among different organs of government, such
as Legislature, Executive and Judiciary is called horizontal distribution
of power. This arrangement of power is called system of checks and
balances.
When power is shared among different levels of government is called
vertical distribution of power.
Power may be also be shared among different social groups, such as
the religious and linguistic groups. Like community government in
Belgium
Power can be shared by political parties, pressure groups and
movements.
