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Centre for Policy Alternatives (Guarantee) Limited | 24/2, 28th Lane, off Flower Road, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka Tel: +94 11 2565304-6, 5552746, 5552748 | Fax: +94 11 4714460 | Email: cpa@cpalanka.org | Web: www.cpalanka.org
Amendments to the Thirteenth Amendment CPA has repeatedly critiqued the Thirteenth Amendment as being inadequate in devolving power to the Provinces. The Thirteenth Amendment is replete with provisions which weigh the balance of power in favour of the centre. Considering the weaknesses of the Thirteenth Amendment, all subsequent power sharing proposals from the Mangala Moonesinghe Committee proposals to the Majority Report of the All Party Representatives Committee in initiatives under successive governments, have reiterated the need to move beyond the provisions of the Thirteenth Amendment. Article 154(G)(3) is a safeguard built into the provisions of the Constitution to prevent the central government from legislating on subjects allocated to the Provincial Councils (PCs) without first obtaining the consent of all PCs. In the event where one or more PC does not consent to a proposed bill, the central government has the option to either pass the bill by a simple majority, in which event the bill will become law applicable only to the Provinces for which the PCs agreed to the bill, or to do so by a two thirds majority in which case the bill will become law applicable to the entire country. Removing this safeguard will render the Thirteenth Amendment worthless as a mechanism to devolve legislative power, as the central government at any given time could take away any or all powers vested in the PCs by passing legislation with a simple majority. This unilateral act by the government to completely negate the existing devolutionary framework would be an historical mistake. The specific proposals to amend the Thirteenth Amendment betray the governments inability to comprehend the historical roots of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, and its inability to learn lessons from similar mistakes made by past governments. Moreover it casts serious aspersions on the governments good faith in formulating a political solution acceptable to all communities. The Thirteenth Amendment being part of the existing constitution that must be fully implemented represents the absolute minimum basis on which a process of constitutional negotiations towards a new power-sharing settlement may be initiated, in order to effect the transition in Sri Lanka from the post-war to a post-conflict phase. CPA further states that such a unilateral act would amount to a violation of specific undertakings of the present government to the international community that it would work to formulate a political solution acceptable to all communities, and specifically to the undertakings given to the government of India that any future political solution would go beyond the framework of the Thirteenth Amendment. Regardless of these statements of intent, the government has demonstrated no credible commitment to negotiating a post-war power-sharing settlement. Therefore CPA strongly urges the government to not proceed with the proposed constitutional amendment and to recommence an inclusive dialogue with a view to developing a consensus amongst all major stakeholders on a political solution acceptable to all communities.
Centre for Policy Alternatives (Guarantee) Limited | 24/2, 28th Lane, off Flower Road, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka Tel: +94 11 2565304-6, 5552746, 5552748 | Fax: +94 11 4714460 | Email: cpa@cpalanka.org | Web: www.cpalanka.org