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Sri Lanka: full implementation of 13th Amendment recommended

— Photo: AFP

QUEST FOR PEACE: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa (left) receives recommendations for a political solution to the ethnic conflict from Tissa Vitharana, Science and Technology Minister, who headed a panel which studied a possible settlement in Colombo on Wednesday.

COLOMBO: Full and faithful implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, holding of provincial council elections in the east and establishment of an interim provincial council in the north are the key recommendations made by the All Parties Representative Conference (APRC) in its interim report submitted to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday.

According to a member of the Committee, who shared the contents of the document with The Hindu, the members are of the view that pending consensus among all parties on further amendments to the Constitution on devolution of powers for resolution of the ethnic conflict, the President should initiate measures to translate into actions the provisions of the 13th Amendment and establish provincial councils in the east and the north to enable people have a say in the governance of their affairs.

The APRC was established by Mr. Rajapaksa in mid-2006 to forge a consensus among all parties on a political solution acceptable to all for resolution of the three-decade-old ethnic conflict. However, the Committee suffered a setback when the main opposition, United National Party (UNP) withdrew from it in protest against the President’s decision to induct rebel members of the party into the government. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has also walked out and now wants dissolution of the APRC.

The 13th Amendment, focus of the interim report of the APRC, followed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in 1987. Among other steps it envisages province as the unit of power and devolution of powers between the centre and the provinces as a solution to the ethnic crisis. However, for a variety of reasons successive governments have not been able to implement various provisions of the Amendment.

In its four-page report titled, “Action to be taken by the President to fully implement Relevant Provisions Of the present Constitution as a prelude to the APRC Proposals,” the Committee said: “The Government should endeavour to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in respect of legislative, executive and administrative powers, overcoming existing shortcomings. Adequate funds should be provided by Government to facilitate effective functioning of the provincial councils. The centre should hereinafter route all finances in respect of special projects undertaken by the centre in the Provinces, if they are on subjects under the purview of the Provinces, through the respective Provincial Administrations.”

On northern and eastern provinces, the APRC has recommended special arrangements necessary to permit maximum devolution of power to the Northern and Eastern Provinces under the 13th Amendment.

“The APRC is of the view that conditions in the Eastern Provinces are conducive for holding elections to the provincial council and that elections should be held immediately. Conditions in the Northern Province are far from being peaceful. A free and fair election in the North will not be possible in the near future. Hence an alternative arrangement is required in the Northern Province to enable the people of that Province to enjoy the fruits of devolution.

“As it is not possible to hold elections in the North, the President could make appropriate order to establish an Interim Council for the Northern Province in terms of the Constitution. It may be necessary for such an Interim Council to make statues. The interim council of a province will aid [and] advise the Governor in the exercise of his executive powers, and will function until provincial council elections are held in that province. The interim council should reflect the ethnic character of the province.

“Hence, it is proposed that the interim council for a province should consist individuals who have political experience and an abiding in the development of the province and in its people and be acceptable to the people of the province. A person to qualify for appointment as a member of an interim council should have a thorough knowledge of the particular province.

On implementation of the official language provision of the Constitution, which envisages Tamil also as a national language along with Sinhala, the Committee said the government should take immediate steps to ensure that Parliament enacts to provide for the full implementation of chapter IV of the constitution on language. “There are many contexts in which remedial measures will assume an administrative, rather than a legislative, character,” it said.

The Committee said it was mandated by the President to prepare a set of proposals that would be the basis for a solution to the national question. “After 63 sittings over a period of 11/2 years the consensus document is being finalised and it should be possible to hand it over to the President in the very near future.

“The outcome would be a basis for appropriate constitutional arrangement. Implementation of this would of course require amendment of the present Constitution, and in respect of some Articles, approval by the People at a referendum.

“This would of course take time, once a favourable climate is established.

“Under the circumstances, the APRC taking into consideration its own proposals, has identified a course of action to achieve maximum and effective devolution of powers to the provinces in the short term.

“The emphasis would be on meeting the aspirations of the Tamil speaking peoples, especially in the North and East. This would be done within the framework of the present Constitution, that is, the 1978 Constitution.

“The course of action proposed by the APRC would be implementable with immediate effect, and envisages an interim arrangement pending the restoration of democratically elected Provincial Councils in the North and East.”

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