POWER SHARING

Belgium and Sri Lanka:

Belgium:
1. It is a small country in Europe, smaller than Haryana. It has a total population
of 1 crore, about half the population of Haryana.

2. It shares its borders with different countries like: France, the Netherlands,
Germany and Luxembourg.

3. The Ethnic composition of this country is very small and complex.

4. Out of the total population of the country 59% live in the Flemish region and
speaks Dutch. While the 40% live in Wallonia region and speak French.
Remaining 1% speak German.

5. But, in the capital city Brussels, 80% of the people speaks French while the
20% speaks Dutch.

6. In the country, the minority French speaking population was relatively rich and
powerful. The Dutch got these benefits much later.

7. This led to tensions between the Dutch and the French-speaking communities
during 1950-60s.

8. The tensions were more acute in Brussels.

9. The problem in Brussels was: the Dutch were in the majority in the country but
were minority in the capital.

Sri Lanka:
1. The population is about 2 crore. It has a diverse population.

2. The major social groups are the Sinhala-speakers (74%) and the Tamil
speakers (18%).

3. The Tamil-speakers were of 2 types: Indian Tamils and the Sri Lankan Tamils.

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 4. Sri Lankan Tamils are the native Tamils of Sri Lanka whereas the rest, whose
forefathers came form India as plantation workers during the colonial period
are the Indian Tamils.

5. Sri Lankan Tamils comprises 13% of the total Tamil population whereas Indian
Tamils comprises 5% of the total Tamil population.

6. Sri Lankan Tamils are concentrated in north and east of the country.

7. Most of the Sinhala-speaking people are Buddhists, whereas Tamils are either
Hindus or Muslims. There are about 7% Christians, who are both Tamils and
Sinhala.

Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka:

1. Sri Lanka got its independence in the year 1948.

2. The leaders of the Sinhala community secured the dominance over

government by virtue of their majority.

3. As a result, the elected government adopted a series of Majoritarian measures

to establish Sinhala dominance.

4. In the year 1956, an Act was passed to recognise Sinhala as the only official
language, disregarding Tamil.

5. The government followed policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for

university positions and government jobs. A new constitution says that the
government shall protect and foster Buddhism.

6. The Tamils felt that none of the major political parties led by the Buddhist
Sinhala leaders was sensitive to their language and culture.

7. The Sri Lankan Tamils launched various parties and struggles for the
recognition of Tamil as an official language and equality in job opportunities.
One of the party was: Liberation tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

8. By 1980s, several more organisations were formed demanding an independent

state in northern and eastern part of Sri Lanka.

9. The conflict between the Sinhala and the Tamils soon turned into a Civil War.
During the war thousands of people have been killed from both the sides.

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 10. The war has caused a terrible setback to the social, cultural and economic life
of the country. It ended in 2009.

Accommodation in Belgium:
1. Belgium leaders took a different path. Between 1970 and 1993, they amended
their constitution 4 times so as to work out an arrangement that would enable
everyone to live together within the same country.

2. Constitution prescribes data number of Dutch and French speaking ministers

will be equal in the central government does no single community can make
decisions alone.

3. Many powers of the central government have been given to the state
government of the 2 regions of the country.

4. Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have

equal representation. The French speaking people accepted their
representation in Brussels because the Dutch speaking community has
accepted equal representation in the central government.

5. Desert 3rd kind of government this is called a community government. This

government is elected by people belonging to one language community-Dutch
French and German speaking no matter where they live. This government has
power regarding cultural education and language related issues.

Why Power Sharing is Desirable?

1. There are 2 reasons by which we can tell why power sharing is desirable. First
reason is the prudential reason and the second reason is the moral reason.

2. Firstly, power sharing is better because it helps to reduce the possibility of

conflict between social groups. Sense conflict often leads to violence at
political instability power sharing is a good way to ensure the stability of
political order. Tyranny of the majority is not just oppressive for the minorities;
it often affects majority adversely as well.

3. The second deeper reason is that the power sharing is the very spirit of
democracy a democratic rule involves sharing power with those affected by its

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 exercise and who have to live with its effects a legitimate government is one
where citizens through participation acquire a stake in the system.

4. In the end, Prudential reasons stress that power sharing will bring out better
outcomes whereas Moral reasons emphasise the very act of power sharing as
valuable.

Forms of Power Sharing:

1. For a long time it was believed that all power of a government must reside in
one person or group of persons located at one place. But these notions have
changed with the emergence of democracy.

2. One basic principle of democracy is that people are the source of all political
power. In a democracy, people rule themselves through institutions of self
government In a democracy, everyone has a voice in the shaping of public
policies.

3. In modern democracy, power sharing arrangements can take many forms.

First is the horizontal power sharing, second is the vertical power sharing,
third is the power shared among different social groups, fourth is the power
shared between political parties, pressure groups and movements.

4. In the horizontal form of power sharing, power is shared among different

organs of the government, like Legislature, Executive and judiciary. It allows
different organs of government placed at same level to exercise different
powers. This ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power.
Each organ checks the others. This results in balance of power. This
arrangement is also called a system of Check and Balances. Example: the
Legislature, Executive and Judiciary are dependent on each other, as the
Legislature makes the laws, executive law and judiciary solves the disputes
regarding the law passed, but they never interfere each other, they just keep
an eye on each other.

5. In the vertical form of power sharing, power can be shared among government
at different levels. A general government for the entire country and the
government at a provincial or regional level. Such a general government for
the entire country is called a federal government. In India, we called it Central
or Union government. The government at the provincial level are called by

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 different names in different countries. In India, we call it a State government.
The Constitution clearly lays down the power of different levels of
government. This is called Federal Division of power.

6. In the Federal Division of power, Power is shared among different social

groups, such as the religious and linguist groups. Community government in
Belgium is a good example of this arrangement. In some countries, there are
some arrangements in which socially weaker sections of the society and
women are representative in the Legislatures and administration. This is also
known as reserved constituencies in assemblies and parliament of our
country. This method is used to give minority communities a fair share in
power.

7. In the fourth form of power is shared among various political parties, pressure
groups and movements to control or influence those in power. In a democracy,
the citizens must have freedom to choose among various contenders for
power. In contemporary democracy, this takes the form of competition among
different parties. This ensures that power does not remain in one hand. In the
long run power is shared among different political parties that represent
different ideologies and social groups. When 2 or more parties form an
alliance to contest election then they are known as a coalition government. In
a democracy, we find interest groups such as those of traders, businessmen,
industrialists, farmers and industrial workers. They also have an equal share in
governmental power, either through participation or bringing influence on the
decision making process.

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