HOW have Belgium and Sri Lanka dealt with the question of power sharing differently?
or
What is the difference between the policies adopted by Belgium and Sri Lanka regarding power sharing arrangements?
or
"Both Belgium and Sri Lanka are democracies but they follow different systems of power sharing". Support the statement by giving three points of differences.
Ans. Belgium is a small country in Western Europe with complex
Ethnic composition. Of the country’s total population,
59 per cent speak Dutch language. Another 40 per cent • speak French. Remaining 1 per cent speak German. Sri Lanka is an island nation in Indian Ocean where the major social groups are Sinhala speakers (74 per cent) and the Tamil speakers - (18 per cent). .
The following three points ofdifferences support the fact
(i) The Belgium Constitution provides that the number of Dutch and French-speaking ministers shall be equal in the Central Government. Contrary to it, leaders of the Sinhala community in Sri Lanka sought to secure dominance over government by virtue of their majority and refused to share power with the Tamils.
(ii) In Belgium, the leaders have realised that the unity of the country is possible only by respecting the feelings of others. Thus, many powers of the Central Government of Belgium have been given to the State Government. But in Sri Lanka, the democratically elected government adopted a series of Majoritarian measures to establish Sinhala supremacy. Their policy has undermined the unity 6f Sri Lanka.
(iii) In Belgium, there is no discrimination between religions. But in Sri Lanka, a new Constitution declares that the state shall protect and foster Buddhism.
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