Amid speculation of factionalisation within the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) over its continued support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s policies, the party has reiterated its position that now is not the time for discussions on devolution of power.
SLPP general secretary and MP Sagara Kariyawasam told reporters on Monday August 14 that his party questions the wisdom of implementing the 13th amendment to the constitution, an India-backed devolution mechanism that President Wickremesinghe is keen to implement albeit with the exception of police powers.
“The country has yet to recover from bankruptcy. We don’t see implementing the 13th amendment at this time as a very wise move,” said Kariyawasam.
Kariyawasam is widely considered a staunch loyalist of SLPP national organiser and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa. Another former loyalist of Rajapaksa is reportedly attempting to put together his own group of SLPP parliamentarians who support Wickremesinghe’s economic policies. However, it is one clear what this faction’s stance on devolution is at present.
“When a country is down, foreign powers and various NGOs may be looking to destabilise it. They may be looking to benefit from the instability of a country,” said Kariyawasam.
The MP said implementing the 13th amendment was not something anybody had urgently sought.
“It’s something the president himself brought up. It’s not anything that’s needed now,” he said.
Kariyawasam urged President Wikcremesinghe to put the matter of devolution aside for the time being and focus instead on rebuilding the economy as a top priority.
“Be involved directly in that and forget the other matters,” he said.
“The people do not expect you to devolve power. They expect you to do only one thing: to stabilise the economy and strengthen democracy in this country,” he said.
The SLPP said earlier in August that Wickremesinghe lacks the mandate for devolution of power.
“As a party, we have already asked the president and we ask again, our country is not in a position to even discuss devolution,” said Kariyawasam.
“We’ll discuss them once the economy is strengthened as a stable country. We can then talk about other things,” he said.
President Wickremesinghe on August 09 reiterated his call for implementing the controversial constitutional amendment aimed at resolving the country’s ethnic issue, amid muted opposition from various parties including sections of the SLPP.
Wickremesinghe told parliament that there are various issues pertaining to the implementation of the 13th amendment to the constitution as well as the provincial council system that it birthed.
“We have to resolve these issues in order to move forward as a country,” he said.
He said at a meeting of ahead of the all-party conference that Sri Lanka must either retain its provincial councils (PCs) with powers adequately devolved as provided for by the 13th amendment or abolish the PC system entirely.
The 13th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution emerged from the controversial Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 as a purported solution to the worsening ethnic conflict, four years after war broke out. Provincial councils came in the wake of this amendment, though land and police powers have yet to be devolved to the provinces as originally envisioned. Both Sinhalese and
Tamil nationalists have historically opposed the amendment, the former claiming it devolved too much, the latter complaining it didn’t devolve enough.
A full implementation of the amendment would see land and police powers devolved to the provinces, a development that is not likely to garner support from Sri Lanka’s more hardline parties. In February, sections of the Buddhist clergy took to the streets against the proposed full implementation of the constitutional amendment.