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Chief Minister’s Forum to be headed by Pillayan

COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Eastern Provincial Council, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, has been elected Chairman of the “Chief Minister’s Forum” on Saturday in Badulla.

The forum discusses issues related to devolution of powers to the provinces. Though the system of provincial government came into vogue in 1988 after the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, following the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, various provisions have not been fully implemented.

Mr. Pillayan’s election for a period of four months is important in the context of projection of the recent elections to the eastern province. President Mahinda Rajapaksa regime’s has projected it as a triumph of democracy. The next meeting of the Chief Minister’s Forum is scheduled to be held in Batticaloa.

A conference organised by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) earlier this week maintained that despite the misgivings about the 13th Amendment, the original objectives of establishing the Provincial Councils were the resolution of the ethnic conflict and the creation of a provincial-level tier of government to address regional development.

“Why did neither of these objectives come to fruition? The consensus among elected members and officials of Provincial Councils is that there are common issues affecting all provinces as well as other issues that pertain uniquely to some provinces,” it said.

Separately, the military said 26 LTTE cadres were killed and 23 wounded during clashes in Wanni.

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