Some Muslim parties in the ruling alliance have joined the campaign for the abolition of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.The All Ceylon Muslim Congress (ACMC) and the Muslim National Congress (MNC) say that they have nothing against the government replacing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution with a viable alternative acceptable to all communities.General Secretary of the ACMC Y. L. S. Hameed told The Island last night that his party was not in favor of extensive power being devolved to the provinces particularly police and land powers.”The reason for this is that except for the Eastern Province, in no other province are the Muslims in a sizeable percentage to wield meaningful political clout,” he said. “Now, there are many issues Muslims are faced with. Mosques in various places have come under attack recently. However, Muslim leaders were able contain them without further escalation with the help of the President. When similar situations occur after extensive power devolution, including land and police, we will have to turn to nine different Chief Ministers for protection.”All attempts to contact National Congress Leader, Minister A. L. M. Athaullah, to ascertain his views were in vain, but party sources said they were willing to consider the abolition of the 13th Amendment.The General Secretary of the SLMC, Parliamentarian M. T. Hassen Ali, however said that his party would oppose any move to abolish the 13th amendment and would strongly urge the government to strengthen it further.The government broke its silence on the issue when Senior Presidential Advisor and Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa expressed his opinion in an interview with a local Tamil daily on Monday. He said any decision on the 13th Amendment would be taken by a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC).Minister Rajapaksa said the problems the Muslim returnees faced in the Northern Province had made the Muslims apprehensive of an extensive devolution.