Sri Lanka is undergoing a political turmoil. More so, it has resulted in serious lapse of governance. When the three pillars of government i.e. legislature, executive and judiaciary functions according to their assigned role, governance is in place. If any of the three pillars is broken, or dismantled, there is lapse of governance.

When the president dissolved the parliament, the rule of law, is dissolved too. Because the parliament is assigned the task of framing laws and the governance has to be in accordance with the law. This, in short is called rule of law. If there is no rule of law, executive is not responsible to the legislature. In Sri Lanka, for e.g. President, who is the head of the executive, suspended the legislature without the advice of the prime minister and the council of ministers. This is blow to the rule of law.

The Indian constitution has only one provision when the president can dissolve the lower house. When any political party, or coalition, can not prove the majority in the house. In this case, he can exercise his discretion. Then, in other case, he can extend the life of Lok Sabha for one year, at a time, in case of national emergency. This can be exercised only on the advise of council of ministers. So the rule of law and governance remains intact. If he chooses to dissolve the parliament in cases, which are not mentioned in the constituion, the judiciary has fair role to play in India. It prevents the blow to the rule of law through judicial review, which is a basic feature of the constitution.

So, Sri Lanka should incorporate some of the basic elements of governance in the constitution. Such as judcial review, which is unamendable; about executive, not supreme at any stage except some of the emergency conditions. These provisions should preferably be written down in the constitution. Then there should be provisions for an independent judiciary, which can determine the constitutionality of the executive and legislative actions.

Sri Lankan constitution need learning from the Indian constitution. India should also lend a helping hand to Sri Lanka, to the Indian Ocean territory. Perhaps, the learning will be for both the countries.