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UPFA partners crank up opposition to 13th Amendment
The future of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which led to the setting up of the Provincial Councils system in the country nearly 25 years ago has become the subject of intense debate once again due to a campaign spearheaded by partners in the ruling UPFA Alliance, to have the system abolished.
The National Freedom Front (NFF) headed by Minister Wimal Weerawansa went public with the call to abolish the PC system urging a referendum be held to decide on the future of the contentious constitutional amendment.
“Now that the LTTE has been defeated militarily, the sympathisers of the cause of the separatists are trying to use the 13th Amendment to achieve their objectives. This is why we hear the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) trumpeting the call for devolution of police and land powers to the provinces,” Mr. Weerawansa said last week at a public seminar held to shore up support for the abolition of this law.
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), another UPFA coalition partner too supported the call for the abolition of the PCs. Party Deputy Secretary Udaya Gammanpila said the 13th Amendment was forced on Sri Lanka by India and hence there should be no hesitation in abolishing it.
“This system only strengthens the hands of those who want to separate the country,” he said. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed by Parliament in 1987 as part of the Indo-Lanka Agreement signed the same year. In 1988, the first elections to the Provincial Councils were held in the country to eight Councils with the Northern and Eastern provinces temporarily merged into one in terms of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord.
However in 2006 the North and East have been de-merged on a Supreme Court directive and while elections to the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) have been held twice since 2008 the Northern PC has been defunct since 1990 after the EPC Chief Minister Vartharajah Perumal made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) which led to the NPC’s dissolution by then President Ranasinghe Premadasa. The Government has promised to hold elections to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) next year. It is also mentioned in the Report the Government submitted to the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) ahead of next month’s review of the country’s human rights record.
Meanwhile the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which staunchly opposed the creation of the PCs in 1987 said that the Party’s position remains unchanged.
“We have always opposed the PC system, but the timing of the Government partners to bring this issue up at a time when the Budget is around the corner seems like a diversionary tactic,” JVP MP Vijitha Herath said.
UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayaka said an attempt to abolish the 13th Amendment by a Government which had agreed to go beyond what is presently in the Constitution to make it 13 Plus, will lose the Government credibility.
“Such a move would also strain relations with India,” he said. TNA MP Suresh Premachandra told the Sunday Times that the Government could not unilaterally abolish the 13th Amendment as India has a stake in the issue.
“I think the Government is trying to antagonize India by bringing up this issue now,” he said. Minister Dinesh Gunwardena whose Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) is part of the UPFA said that his party’s position is that the PCs are an utter failure and a colossal waste of money.
“Even if we abolish this system, there should be a framework to address the grievances of the Tamil and Muslims minorities in the country as well as decentralize development projects,” he said.
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