POWER SHARING

IN BELGUIM and SRI LANKA

POWER SHARING
 CONTENT

• POWER • DISTRIBUTION
SHARING OF OF POWER
BELGUIM AND • MERITS AND
SRILANKA . DEMERITS
• DIFFERENT
POLICIES OF
THE
GOVERNMENT
IN BOTH
COUNTRIES.
 BELGIUM
SIZE AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION
• Smaller than Haryana
• Borders with France,
Netherlands, Germany
and Luxembourg
 COMMUNITIES
AND REGIONS OF
BELGIUM..
SHOWING THE
LINGUISTIC DIVISION
OF PEOPLE ..IN THE
NATION
 ETHICAL COMPOSITION OF
NATION Region
Flemish

• 40% speak French and live

in the Walloonia Region
59% speak Dutch
and live in the
Flemish region.
• 1% speak
German and live
in the Walloonia Walloonia
Region Region
 ETHICAL COMPOSITION OF BRUSSELS

• 80% in the capital speak

French but they are minority in
the country
• 20% in the capital speak Dutch
but they are majority in the
country
Power
sharing
desired
over …all
 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.
 THE BELGIAN MODEL
OF POWER SHARING
• Between 1970 and 1993 the constitution was
amended four times to accommodate social and
cultural diversities.
• This was done by sharing power as follows.
There shall be equal representation from both
communities in the central council of ministers
The majority Dutch accepted this arrangement
because they were minority in the capital
Accomodation in Belgium
• Number of Dutch and French speaking ministers would
be same at the Central level.
• Some powers of the Central government were
given to the state government thus making state
government not subordinate to the central govt.
• Capital Brussel has a separate government with
equal representation of both language speaking
group.
• Community Government –Each community elects its
own govt ,this govt has the power regarding their
culture , tradition etc
 Advantages of The Belgian Model

Though complex, the

model has worked well so
far.
It has avoided civic strife
between the two
communities
The European Union
.
chose to have its
parliament at Brussels as
Power Sharing was
practiced successfully
 SRI LANKA

• About the same as Haryana

• Just a few kms away off the
southern coast of Tamil Nadu
• Independent in 1948.
• Sinhalas dominated
government, by virtue of
their majority, & adopted
series of majoritarian
 SRI LANKA…..

• Srilankan Tamils • The distrust

started struggle for between
recognition of Tamil communities turned
as an official into a civil war.
language
• Loss of life ,
• By 1980~s several property and human
political organisations
resources because
demanded for
independent TAMIL of the civil war.
EELAM < state>..
 SOCIAL COMPOSITION
Indian
Tamils
Sri
Lanka
• Sinhala speakers: 74%. They n
are mostly Buddhists Tamils

• Tamils speakers: 18%. They

are Hindus and Muslims Tamil
Speakers
 • They migrated to Sri
Indian Lanka as Plantation
Tamils workers during the
British Rule

Sri • Tamil Natives

Lankan
Tamils
7% of
• Consisted of
the Christians who
Populati speak both Sinhala
and Tamil
on
 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
MAJORITARIANISM IN
SRI LANKA
• In 1956 an Act was
passed which
Sinha
recognised Sinhala
la
as the only official
language.
La
• Sinhala speakers nk
a
were preferred both
for university
positions and Govt.
jobs.
MAJORITARIANISM IN
SRI LANKA
• Constitution
was amended
to protect and
strengthen
Sinhala
Language.
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
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.
 THE CIVIL WAR

• Civil war thus

broke out
between the
Tamils and
Thousands the
of people
Sinhalas
on both the sides Thousands of Tamil
were killed families went out of
the country as
refugees
.
 WHY IS POWER
SHARING DESIRABLE?
• Prudential Reasons
1. It avoids conflicts between different social
groups. The absence of power sharing can result
in division of the country.
2. Imposing will of the majority on the minority
might appear to be an attractive option but it
can be counter productive and can come in way
of national integration as it happened in Sri
Lanka
3. The tyranny of the majority brings ruins both to
the minority and the majority (as in Sri Lanka )
 Moral Reason
1. Power sharing is the very essence of
democracy. In an ideal democracy as many
people as possible should get a chance to
enjoy power.
2. People are affected by all the policies of
democratic politics and they have to live
with the effects. Hence citizens need share
in power.
3. A legitimate govt. is one where citizens,
through participation, acquire stake in
power.
FORMS OF POWER SHARING

The Legislature The Executive The Judiciary

• 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
Vertical Power
Sharing Central Govt.
State Govt.
Local Bodies

The Central Government is set up for the whole nation.

The state/provincial Government is set up for each
provinces/states.
The central government transfers/shares some of the
powers to/with the state government (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 Government
Both the Central and State Government have
transferred power and resources to the Local bodies.
Power Sharing among
different social groups

Socially weaker sections also have to

have share in power.
Community Government in Belgium is
one example for this type of power SCs
sharing.
In India, it is done by way of S
reservation. T
W s
Constituencies and seats are reserved
o
for women, SCs and STs.
Thus power is shared among different
m
social groups. e
n
 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.