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First steps on the road to devolution

B. Muralidhar Reddy

For Sri Lanka, much depends on the working of the multi-ethnic experts group.

WITH THE first meeting on July 11 of the multi-ethnic experts group on devolution of powers, the Mahinda Rajapakse Government has made a start to addressing Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict. The initiative delayed for over seven months follows strong pleas from the international community for revival of political dialogue.

Its success is predicated on the ability of the Sri Lankan President to carry everyone along. The baggage of party rivalries, broken promises, and missed opportunities makes the task even tougher.

The multi-ethnic experts group is to aid Mr. Rajapakse in his efforts to forge a national consensus on power sharing. The group is to look at devolution experiences the world and prepare a draft framework for a new Constitution. Mr. Rajapakse has set only one `limitation or constraint' on the group — the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka is not negotiable. Barring the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, there is consensus on the issue within and outside the country.

As much as there is a consensus on the country's unity, the common refrain is that putting the political dialogue on the fast track is the ideal way to isolate the LTTE. Mr. Rajapakse has avoided getting into a debate on whether the country can afford a federal structure. By sticking to the theme of a united Sri Lanka as the only criteria, he has left the field open for diverse views.

Mr. Rajapakse stressed the need for a "multi-party and inclusive approach" to power sharing. However, the occasion itself was robbed of the spirit with the decision of the main opposition party, the United National Party (UNP), to boycott it. It has also chosen to stay away from all party conference initiatives of Mr. Rajapakse saying he is not "sincere."

Party rivalries have been the bane of Sri Lanka's polity. The UNP is miffed with Mr. Rajapakse for a number of reasons and accuses him of trying to break the party. In recent weeks the ruling combine has encouraged a steady stream of opposition defections. For the UNP, perhaps, the last straw came a few days before the inaugural of the multi-ethnic experts meeting. On July 7 at 6-30 p.m., Mr. Rajapakse administered the oath of office and secrecy as a Deputy Minister to a fourth deserter from the UNP. That was half-an-hour before his appointment with the Leader of the Opposition and former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Mr. Rajapakse's party has a narrow majority in Parliament with support from ultra-nationalist parties such as the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU). It is impossible for his government to muster two-thirds majority in Parliament to carry out any devolution of powers without the support of the UNP. The UNP is not alone in being sceptical. The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), a partner of the ruling coalition, has also kept away from the all parties' conference on the plea that it would like to watch Mr. Rajapakse's moves. The pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNC) was not invited.

Mr. Rajapakse has not set any time frame for the experts group and has created an impression that it could be an open-ended exercise. A time table would have gone a long way in investing the process with greater credibility. The experts' panel has indicated that it intends to complete the draft framework in three months.

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