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Northern election and the TNA’s new pragmatism
In their deliberations relating to the national question Sri Lankan political leaders would need to take note of an important message from the leader of a BJP delegation that just concluded a five day visit. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and leader of the Indian delegation said the Tamils issue was not just Tamil Nadu’s concern but a national issue, and that “India-Sri Lankan relations have a bipartisan consensus in India,” according to Indian media reports.
TNA leader R. Sampanthan gesticulates his point of view at the Foreign Correspondents’ Association press meet this week. Picture courtesy tnainfo.com
It may be inferred that the Government’s actions relating to the Northern Provincial Council election and implementation of the 13th Amendment to the constitution (13A) are likely to be an election issue in the Indian general election next year. Any moves made in relation to these matters will come under a microscope in Indian and international media in the months ahead.
Meanwhile, comments made by TNA and ITAK leader R. Sampanthan and TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran addressing the Foreign Correspondents Association on Tuesday would seem to indicate that the party is heading in a new direction, far more accommodating and amenable to compromise than it has shown itself to be in decades.
The statements, in the context of developments relating to the Northern Provincial Council election, suggest a certain re-calibration of the TNA’s approach to politics. Whether the TNA’s ‘new pragmatism’ will be reciprocated by the Government, currently under pressure from extremist elements within the ruling coalition to jettison the 13A, remains to be seen.
Throughout the FCA’s question-and-answer session, the message conveyed, through measured responses, seemed to be that the party wished to put the past behind it and move forward.
When asked about fear among the Sinhalese that they would “declare independence,” Sampanthan said the fear that the Northern Provincial Council would end in separation was ‘fanciful.’ He said the Northern Provincial Council election could not bring about separation. It merely provides a provincial institution of governance in the Northern Province, in terms of the Sri Lankan constitution, the primary objective of which is the preservation of the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
“We are publicly stating that we are committed to the unity, the territorial integrity of this country, and that we are committed to a political solution within a framework of a united, undivided country.”
Responding to a question on “what happens if there is no political solution” he said they would try to find a way forward. “We are completely opposed to a recurrence of violence. We have had enough of it, it has not done anyone any good. We will do our damnedest to prevent it. But if the Government wants it that will be the Government’s choice…”
Another question put to the TNA frontliners was, in the event of an election victory in the North, how the party would live up to the people’s expectations in relation to the economy. Sumanthiran said the issue was the extent of power that the Governor would be willing to share with the board of ministers. “Under the constitution the entirety of executive power of the province is vested in the Governor. So there will have to be certain negotiations. In keeping with the democratic wishes of the people …. these issues will have to be negotiated with the Governor and the central government.” He said the TNA would want ‘the maximum amount of exercise of power’ to fulfil people’s expectations regarding the economy, job creation, agriculture, fisheries etc.
Recent developments show that the more extreme elements in the UPFA coalition as well as the TNA coalition are both unhappy with aspects of the envisaged implementation of the 13A. These same developments have highlighted the views of moderates within the government as well as the Tamil parties, who have spoken in favour of proceeding with the Northern Provincial Council election and by implication, expressed their endorsement of power sharing on the basis of the 13A as the basis for a political solution.
No sooner the UNP presented its draft constitution proposals which spoke of ‘devolution of power within the framework of a unitary state,’ the TNA’s Mavai Senathirajah raised objections to the ‘unitary’ concept. Moderates like Sumanthiran on the other hand have generally welcomed the proposals.
On the government’s side, while the extremist in the JHU and NFF seek to reduce the powers granted to provincial councils, the Left parties within the ruling coalition are strongly advocating power devolution. D.E.W. Gunasekera (Communist Party), Tissa Vitarana (Lanka Sama Samaja Party) and Vasudeva Nanayakkara (Democratic Left Front) have all sought to publicly counter the arguments of the JHU and NFF.
There is a lack of clarity at present relating to some attempts to further amend the 13th Amendment. While there has been no Government endorsement of the JHU-NFF bid to remove police and land powers from the NPC, reports say two other changes are under consideration. One relates to enabling parliament to pass bills that may affect subjects coming under the PCs with the approval of a majority of provincial councils (and not all of them as the 13A now requires). The other relates to dropping the provision that allows two or three adjoining provinces to merge and form one administrative unit with one elected provincial council.
Political parties including UPFA’s allies such as the EPDP and those in the Socialist Alliance (CP, LSSP and DLF) are believed to be studying a proposed bill containing these amendments.
With regard to the proposed removal of the ‘merger’ provision, it may be recalled that there is an existing Supreme Court ruling that declared the North-East merger null and void in 2006. There would seem to be little basis for lamenting the demise of this particular clause of the 13A. Its unhappy consequences were seen during the brief period when a merged North-East Provincial Council prevailed in the 1980s. The only two provinces that would conceivably want to merge in the future are the North and the East. It may be anticipated that any future attempt to re-merge these provinces would simply set the country on a renewed collision course of confrontational communal politics.
The more important focus in the task of shaping an enduring political solution would be to ensure that the NPC election brings about meaningful power devolution to the people of the North. A compact between the government and the Tamil political leadership would be the country’s best defence against foreign interference in its domestic affairs. It appears the extremists within the government, who seek to derail the existing constitutional provisions for power sharing, fail to understand this reality.
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