Wednesday, 26 June 2013 00:00
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Events linked to the 13th Amendment are growing apace. Two Provincial Councils – the Sabaragamuwa and Southern – yesterday passed resolutions in support of the Government’s initial move to repeal two provisions of the 13th Amendment, enabling Parliament to legislate on subjects allocated to the provincial councils and preventing the scope for merger of two or more provincial councils.
Meanwhile, a handful of ministers under the ruling party have insisted that they will oppose plans to dilute the 13th Amendment and have insinuated that there is a “silent majority” within the ranks ready to step out into battle. This opens up a whole new dimension of battle zones and loyalties within what at first appeared to be a solid wall of support for the revamping of the 13th Amendment.
The Government, by repealing these provisions, seeks to enable Parliament to legislate on subjects included in the concurrent list only with the approval from majority of them, instead of approval from all of them as set out in the present Constitution.
Accordingly, the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council passed the resolution with a majority of 17 votes. The motion was taken up as an urgent matter by Chief Minister Mahipala Herath, media reports have indicated. The main Opposition United National Party (UNP) was opposed the resolution saying the provincial council system should be further strengthened.
Interestingly, in the Southern Provincial Council, it was passed by a narrow margin of only one vote. Six ruling party members voted against the resolution along with the Opposition. Among them was Provincial Agriculture Minister Wijeya S. Weerasinghe.
The Central Provincial Council will take up resolution for a vote on 28 June, whereas the North Western Provincial Council will debate the issue tomorrow. Political analysts and those at Central Government level will no doubt wait with furrowed brows for the verdict to come in for approval from the provincial councils will be a further green light for what the Government is attempting to do in Parliament.
The Eastern Provincial Council will likely not approve of any moves to dilute the 13th Amendment and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress has already clearly stated that it disapproves of any such attempt. The battle lines are being more markedly drawn between the majority and minority political parties, but could the latter gain some unexpected motivation?
Divisions within the ruling UPFA coalition on the issue of diluting the 13th Amendment to the Constitution were laid bare on Monday when a group of senior Government Ministers publicly proclaimed their opposition to the move and vowed to defeat moves to reduce the powers of the provincial councils.
Minister Senaratne was joined by his ministerial colleagues Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, D.E.W. Gunasekera and Reginald Cooray in a rare public display of dissent within the ruling coalition at a press conference at the Lanka Sama Samaja Party Headquarters.
The Ministers said that there was a silent majority within the Government to defeat moves to dilute the powers of the provincial councils. Senior Minister Prof. Vitarana said that the group that had gathered under the banner ‘Let’s build a united Lankan nationality’ would not support any moves to dilute the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
Worthy as these voices of dissent are, the Government is well versed in wheeling and dealing its way to its desired end and only time will tell whether this fine balance will result in equal rights for all Sri Lankans.
