In efforts to full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, to safeguard the full powers of the Provincial Councils (PC) as mentioned under list one in the said Amendment with the exception of Police powers, a constitutional amendment has been mooted along with the inclusion of specified functions in list III in the PCs list subject to agreement among political parties in the Parliament.
This has been discussed during a meeting held yesterday (18) between Tamil Parliamentarians from the North and East and President Ranil Wickremasinghe. The discussion was held in order to discuss the issues relevant to the community in the Northern and Eastern Provinces such as ethnic issues, infrastructure development and the reconciliation process.
According to sources within the Presidential Secretariat, several important matters such as the implementation of the water for the North programme, the development of tourism in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, developing Jaffna as a University town, and the development plan for renewable energy had been taken into discussion.
Apart from that, it was revealed in the discussion that a draft law for the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) has been sent to the Attorney General for constitutionality review and is to be presented to the Parliament shortly. The national action plan on reconciliation drafted by the ONUR is also to be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers soon.
As per the President’s Media Division, the Interim Secretariat for the Truth Seeking Mechanism was established with the Director General and applications are invited for key staff to facilitate stakeholder consultations and draft guidelines.
Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe told Tamil MPs that the Anti-Corruption Law will undergo Committee Stage amendments in the Parliament today (19) and that amendments which were proposed by the Supreme Court will also be considered.
The discussion was held on the eve of President Wickremesinghe planning his first visit to India since he became the President of Sri Lanka, next week.
Since December 2022, Wickremesinghe had opened up a dialogue with the TNA in a bid to settle the long standing Tamil minority demand for political autonomy. Wickremesinghe mooted the idea for the full implementation of the India backed 13th Amendment which came to be opposed by the Buddhist clergy.
The 13th Amendment provides for the devolution of power. India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement this which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement of 1987. The Tamil people’s side insisted on resolving the immediate issues of concern such as the release of private lands held for military purposes, the release of Tamil political prisoners and conflict reparations.
Although some of the lands came to be released and a few prisoners were also released, the Tamil community’s side remains largely dissatisfied. A few former militant Tamil parties who are not part of the TNA, have also written to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to pressure Wickremesinghe into the full implementation of the 13th Amendment.
Meanwhile, a group of religious leaders, educationists, and professionals from Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority from the North and East have written to Modi, urging him to “persuade” President Wickremesinghe to call for PC Elections, without further delay. The civil society members handed over their letter at the Indian Consulate in Jaffna. Sri Lanka’s PCs have been defunct for about five years now, with all nine Provinces under Governors’ rule since the elected Councils’ terms have expired in 2018 and 2019.