Devolution tops agenda

INDIAN External Affairs Minister S. Krishna arrived in Sri Lanka on a four-day visit, bringing devolution back to the top of the agenda. The effect of the Indian presence during key talks between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Government, while being unprecedented, will also raise hopes for a way forward.

Over the weekend, days before the talks were set to begin, the TNA released its point of view on the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report. “The need for an accountability process that meets international standards while delivering on the right of victims to truth, justice and reparations (including guarantees of non-recurrence) is an urgent and important one. Given the Government’s failure to institute a process that meets these benchmarks, the TNA calls on the international community to institute measures that will advance accountability and encourage reconciliation in Sri Lanka in keeping with the recommendations of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts,” the TNA said in its 70-page analytical ‘Response to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report’.

The TNA had earlier rejected the report in a short response a few days after the release. The Report of the UNSG’s Panel of Experts was seen in Sri Lanka as an affront on the country. The TNA, however, welcomed its findings.

The main stumbling block in the talks related to the extent and kind of autonomy that the Northern Province could be accorded. Terming the LLRC’s recommendations on this vital question “exceedingly vague,” the TNA said that these “fail to measure up to the past proposals,” including that of the 2006 report of the All Party Representative Committee’s report that was handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa has gone on record saying that land and police powers will not be accorded. Recalling this stand, the TNA said that “the most current views of the President, however, reflect the Government’s unwillingness to even implement the provisions of the Constitution vis-à-vis the 13th Amendment”. This has only reinforced Tamil fears of the Government not being genuine about political solution based on meaningful devolution, it added.

It is therefore clear that a tough round of discussions awaits all parties and most locals will be waiting to see how the Government deals with the tough question of land and police powers. From the Indian perspective, the External Affairs Minister will have to tread a fine balance of promoting power devolution while not straining relations with Sri Lanka, which has formed strong ties with China to spur development.

From the international perspective, all stakeholders will be keen to prove that their viewpoint is carried through and the influence of Tamil Nadu politics cannot be discounted in this finer mesh of politics. Promotion of a power devolution system that the US and UK have been calling for, for years, would strengthen the standing of Sri Lanka and go a long way in clearing Sri Lanka’s reputation in the world. It would also burnish the image on human rights and democracy.

No one can deny that the toughest task remains on the home front. The Government will have to convince its own people that the safety and security of the country will not be undermined by devolution. For this they must move beyond their insecurities and work honestly for a mutually-beneficial solution. This will be unlikely within the next few days, but a step in that direction would be appreciated by many.