𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 ?

"Radical", especially in the consolidation of democracy and institutions and in the eradication of coloniality !!!

Two interesting articles , one in today’s Week-End titled “𝓓𝓲𝓼𝓪𝓷 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓷-𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓷 𝓜𝓪𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓟𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓼” 𝓫𝔂 𝓓𝓻 𝓟𝓪𝓿𝓲 𝓡𝓪𝓶𝓱𝓸𝓽𝓪 and the other , the editorial piece by Nad Sivaramen in today’s L’express “𝑹éé𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏” that give us some insights on the extent to which we are prepared to go to eradicate coloniality in our present attempt at a “radical” constitutional overhaul.

Dr Ramhota defines “coloniality” as “ 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

He refers to Frantz Fanon’s explanation of how colonial societies had often internalised racial categories so deeply that even postcolonial politics becomes strapped within the psychological framework of colonialism; instead of creating new humanistic political cultures, societies may continue to define themselves through race, resentment and communal antagonism.

“𝘐𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘴, 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.”

Dr Ramhota concludes that the “ 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺…. 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘰f 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯”.

Will the Constitutional Review Commission aim that high? We have some doubts !!!

Why ? Because

𝐚. The authorities and a large part of the electorate are having second thoughts on abolishing the Best Loser System which will be in conflict with rescinding the mandatory declaration of community affiliation, allowing candidates to stand for the National Assembly without declaring their community.

𝐛. Proposals leaning toward a hybrid model (e.g.maintaining 60 First-Past-The-Post seats while adding 12 to 20 compensatory PR/list-tier seats) to ensure that vote shares align more closely with seat shares will not be totally bypassing the need for ethnic categorization and

𝐜. To bypass mandatory community declarations, proponents of hybrid models (such as the proposed 40/20 or 60/20 FPTP-PR structures) argue that political parties can naturally embed diversity into their proportional representation (PR) lists. However, this shifts the responsibility of ensuring fair minority representation from a constitutional formula, (relying on data from the 1972 census) on to the internal, unregulated discretion of party leaders. (sic)

Nad Sivaramen is also critical about maintaining the Best Loser System ‘𝘓𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 à 𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘦-𝘭à. 𝘐𝘭 𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 à 𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘶𝘹 𝘥𝘦 𝘭'𝘐𝘯𝘥é𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘤𝘦 𝘮é𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯ç𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘙é𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦 𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘶𝘵 é𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳é𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘵é𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘥'𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘶. ......𝘜𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴 à 𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵é 𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢î𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘦 é𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵é 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦.’

Then, why is L’express so obsessed about a new population census ? Based on a new post-colonial categorisation ??? Are we not going back to square one -a self imposed Catch-22 situation ?

A well-thought Proportional Representation (PR) system can bypass the need for ethnic categorization by replacing rigid legal ethnic quotas with organic, demographic-driven political representation. We have different implementation models for multicultural societies that have been tried elsewhere . Are we prepared to go beyond our conventional, non-innovative ways to try these more demanding models of pure PR that eliminates once for all ethnic categorisation ?

Are we prepared to totally dismantle the whole system of reducing individuals to communal and casteist categories ?

Meaningful reforms demand extended civic engagement and national consensus ,especially with decades-old electoral and institutional frameworks still in place. While the desire to modernize our democratic architecture is widely acknowledged, the reality of navigating these diverse perspectives dictates a long tough road ahead; making loud claims of immediate reform by the enthusiasts -“Yes , we can!”- may be premature.

𝓛𝓮𝓽’𝓼 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓲𝓽, 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓹 𝓪𝓽 𝓪 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 !