Development with devolution

The Supreme Court, no stranger to controversy, this week ruled that the merger of the North-East Provincial Council is ultra-vires (outside the law) of the Constitution.

For all intents and purposes, this merger has been one of the biggest political shams in the country. It is a classic lesson of how a system of government, forced down the throat of the nation has had a life of its own in areas it was not meant for, and was dead as a dodo where it was meant to function.

Much blood has flowed since - and the temporary merger has run for 19 years. Elections were held just once, and only the EPRLF contested, for its Chief Minister to make a unilateral declaration of Independence, then go to India because the LTTE were after him. Since then, a Colombo-appointed Governor has been running the two provinces.

This merged North and East Council is a contradiction of what devolution (power to the periphery) is all about.

The merged province is almost a quarter of the whole country - certainly the largest of the Councils - and runs contrary to the concept of power to the grassroots. Instead, it is to provide the separatists an area so large that it could be the contours of what is claimed to be the traditional homeland of the Tamil-speaking people.
The sticky issue is that the people of the Eastern Province were not for the merger and for good reason. So, while the North and East Provinces were having a sham legislative and executive system - the rest of the country was saddled with the same, something the JVP which challenged this merger in the Supreme Court and the ruling SLFP opposed in toto.

So how come these two parties now in power, will not jettison the PC system they so strongly opposed back in 1987.

One of the arguments is that things have moved on and the PC system is accepted now. Like we said last week, this country's political parties make a lot of noise over an issue but then quietly accept it when they find that there is something in it for them, in this case, all the attendant powers and perks.

But the system itself has proved to be an utterly useless exercise merely duplicating the work of the Central Government and local councils.

It has been our position for many years that devolution is a necessity - but that PCs are not the answer. The contentious issue is the unit of devolution. We have long argued that the District ought to be the unit of devolution citing the examples of the US, Canada, India, Australia etc., though federalism is an exercise in futility given their sheer size in comparison to Sri Lanka.

Districts can always work with other neighbouring districts. What's more, in today's electronic age, much of what is seen as administrative stumbling blocks can be overcome by Information Technology, the tool of the 21st century that breaks down linguistic barriers and is borderless.

The Government is now in a quandary having to make known its position following the Supreme Court ruling. There is also the upcoming peace talks, which will surely discuss humanitarian issues first, but have to focus on core issues such as devolution someday if the peace process is to progress.

The international community must put its money where its mouth is and fund development projects, for only development can break the shackles of this country's current impasse.

For starters, the Government must take a hard look at devolution; abandon the current PC system and re-introduce the District Development Councils - with the emphasis on development.

How to engage the LTTE in this process given the current militancy is the question. The LTTE will probably stick to its 2003 position of ISGA (Interim Self Governing Authority) or the post-tsunami P-TOMS mechanism, both of which met with stiff resistance from the "south".

Should the Government proceed to establish DDCs, have elections thereto in the rest of the country, the LTTE or the TNA will need to shore up people's support, get control of these Development Councils and work to uplift the lives of their people.

The paradigm shift that is a fashionable phrase in the jargon of the peace process, must be in the model of ensuring that development is prioritised at the forefront of political thinking - not just the grabbing of political power.

For surely that is what the ordinary people of the North and East desperately yearn for. While there still might be other viable alternatives that could be discussed at any future peace talks, they cannot revolve around the PC system which has failed to take off in the North and East and come a cropper in the rest of Sri Lanka as well.