Global Peace Support Group

The UN criteria for a people to achieve independence (with a seat in UN) are that the people must have their own homeland, own separate language, separate religion, own culture and they must be facing genocide. Thus the Tamils of Eelam fully meet the criteria. It will be for a majority of the elected representatives in Eelam to cite these and call for a referendum supervised by UN (as happened recently in many Balkan countries). Tamils overseas can act as the mouthpiece. UN may ask whether the Tamils of Eelam have an agreed (draft) democratic constitution.

The usual method for bringing in a new constitution (as happened recently in Iraq and before that in South Africa after apartheid) is to have a general election; the elected members then form the constitution assembly and appoint a constitution committee to draft the constitution. The draft is debated and approved by the constitution assembly. The approved draft then has to be validated and given legal force and legitimacy by the people in the country in a referendum. UN typically requires a 60% approval in at least a 40% turnout. The approved constitution then becomes the Basic Law of the country. (UN should supervise the referendum).

The above method cannot be used in Eelam under the present conditions. However, there is a modified method that was used in Russia after the collapse of communism to bring about a new constitution. Russia is a vast country stretching several thousand miles and it is not easy to bring all the elected representatives under a single roof to form the constitution assembly. So Moscow produced the initial draft and circulated to all the state assemblies and regional assemblies and other remote areas. The draft was amended by all the parties. It took a while to agree the final draft (e-mail help to speed up the process). The agreed draft was then validated by the people of the whole of Russia in a referendum to become the Basic Law of the whole of Russia.

I give below in the Appendix key particulars of a draft constitution produced by a large group of British legal and constitutional experts. This was produced for UK about 15 years ago as a substitute for UK’s unwritten constitution (which is based largely on custom, precedent and parliamentary supremacy).

We Tamils should take the British draft as our initial draft and circulate it to all the elected and other representatives. They need to come up with whatever amendments considered necessary in consultation with the people on the ground. Once finalised we can present it to the UN, EU and the world as our agreed democratic draft constitution. This needs to be validated by the people of Eelam in a referendum supervised by UN.

APPENDIX

THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM SERIES

A Written Constitution for the United Kingdom

INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH

General Editor : Roger Blackburn

First Published in paperback in 1991 under the title ‘The Constitution of the United Kingdom

First published in hardback in 1993 by Mansell Publishing Ltd, Villiers House, 41/47 Strand, London WC2N 5JE.

Reprinted in paperback in 1995 when I bought my copy for £19.99.

It has 286 pages

Part 1: 129 Articles and 6 Schedules contained in pages 29 to 157

Part 2 Commentary – pages 159 to 286

It comprises 129 articles in 12 chapters as follows:

Chapters

1 The Constitution

2. Rights and Freedom

3. Nationality

4. The Head of State

5. The Executive

6. The Legislatures

7. National and Regional Government

8. Elections

9. The Judiciary

10. The Public Services

11. Administrative Justice

12. Protection of the United Kingdom

Schedules