THE THREE DECADE OLD DEVOLUTION DEBATE

The rhetoric against the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and the resultant Provincial Councils by the Government ministers seems to be waning away.

- M.S.M. Ayub

The reason or reasons for the calls for the abolition of the Constitutional amendment by ministers and various Sinhalese nationalist groups not being heard for about two weeks is not clear.

Also, the government’s stance on the 13th Amendment and Provincial Councils even seems to be softening. If it is not an illusion, the reason for it may be the concern repeatedly expressed by the Indian government, though in a routine statement that the 13th Amendment should be implemented fully.

The Indian government, whether it is led by the Congress Party or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or any other party, has been repeating this same sentence while leaders of various governments in Sri Lanka have been responding to it sometimes positively, evasively or ambiguously. Only President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has rejected Indian leaders’ suggestion to implement the 13th Amendment fully, though not to their face but during discussions with Indian media, in November last year. However, the situation in respect of the ethnic issue and devolution of power remain the same for the past 33 years since the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, being a seasoned politician has at times been cautious and diplomatic while being shrewd enough to encourage the Indian leaders and the Tamil leaders in Sri Lanka, in their emphasis on more powers to the Provincial Councils. Far back as January 13, 2008, he had said in a “Walk the Talk” interview with India’s NDTV that he wants to fully implement the 13th Amendment” claiming that “it is the most practical answer to the Tamil minority’s demand for provincial autonomy.”