In earlier years the Liberal Party of Sri Lanka was mainly a think tank. With no popular base, it influenced the policies of both major parties. Mrs Bandaranaike’s 1988 Presidential Manifesto and Gamini Dissanayake’s 1994 Manifesto were largely drafted by Liberal Party leader Dr Chanaka Amaratunga.

Many of the ideas put forward there began with the workshops the Party and the Council for Liberal Democracy conducted through the eighties. This led to ‘Ideas for Constitutional Reform’, published in 1987, which introduced many concepts now widely accepted – the German system of proportional representation, the need for national and international election monitors, independent commissions in areas of particular political concern.

In the last few years there were few Liberal innovations. This was partly because a lot of what the party stood for was generally accepted by both major parties. The UNP had continued with state monopolies in the eighties, despite the open economy it had started, but it got rid of these through a coherent programme of privatization in the early nineties. The SLFP, which earlier rejected such policies, accepted them just before the 1994 election.

Conversely, the UNP had earlier promoted authoritarianism as necessary for development, and its constitutional manipulations were intended to crush dissent. The SLFP then seemed more concerned with inalienable fundamental rights, but now the UNP too has accepted these and the need to strengthen independent institutions.

Since two fundamentals of liberalism, the primacy of human rights and a genuine market economy and, have now been widely accepted, it may seem time for the Liberal Party to fold up. Recent developments however suggest that there is still some confusion in both major parties about their policies. The UNP is clearly concerned only with political popularity in its approach to constitutional reform as is seen by its changes over the Presidential system and devolution, while it has also opposed reforms such as those in education simply for the sake of opposition. More worryingly, recent government activities and statements suggest a return to the worst excesses of the 1970-77 period, and in particular a determination to use the judiciary for its own ends.

In a situation then when ill-considered and momentarily convenient responses are once more multiplying, the Liberal Party feels it is time to think more coherently and productively. It submits therefore the following very basic ideas towards a Manifesto for the 21st century.