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Never the twain shall meet
Saturday, 31 December 2011 - 1:17 PM SL Time
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The government-TNA talks on devolution have been dragging on for months. Whether anything will ever come of them is anybody`s guess. Even the shadow of a doomed marriage is crooked as a local saying goes.
Why they have failed to agree on devolution as a solution is not difficult to understand. The TNA is no longer under the gun but it has placed itself at the beck and call of the revengeful LTTE rump which is trying to win diplomatically and politically what Prabhakaran failed to achieve militarily. It is only wishful thinking that the overseas Tigers will allow the TNA to agree to anything that will not serve as a stepping stone to Eelam.
Similarly, the government which wiped out Prabhakaran`s de facto separate state militarily and gained a great deal of political mileage from the country`s victory over terrorism does not want to make any concessions as it is wary of being seen to be buckling under pressure from the LTTE rump and the western bloc. It is also resentful that the TNA has lent its voice to the overseas Tigers` call for an international war crimes probe. Therefore, the government is not amenable to the TNA`s key demands such as land and police powers. Never the twain shall meet!
UNP MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena has said in an interview with this newspaper yesterday that unless the government is prepared to devolve powers in keeping with the Constitutional provisions, it might as well scrap the 13th Amendment the way it abolished the 17th Amendment. The UNP is for land and police powers being devolved, Jayawardena has said. The question is whether he is authorised to speak for the UNP. Chairman of the UNP Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, MP, has taken exception to Jayawardena`s statement. He has told this newspaper that it is up to the UNP and not individuals to decide on such issues of national importance.
MP Jayawardena seems to be cranking up pressure on the government to make its position known on the land and police powers to the provinces. Rhetoric serves no purpose in addressing a vexed problem.
What is of concern to us is the government`s failure to make discussions on devolution etc an inclusive process. There has been no Muslim representation at talks successive governments had with the LTTE. Muslim politicians are against any move to reduce the strength of the Muslims of the Eastern Province by remerging that area with the Tamil dominated Northern Province. They have even asked for a separate South-Eastern Council. Interests of the Tamils in the hills are also different from those of their northern counterparts. The government says that CWC leader A. Thondaman is opposed to police powers being devolved to the provinces as his party cannot form an administration in the Central Province to have control over the police he, therefore, prefers to have the police under the government which he is in a position to influence thanks to his bargaining power at the national level, we are told. So, a one-size-fits-all approach to devolution should be avoided and the rights of all stakeholders to participate in talks and have their voice heard, recognised. That is the most democratic way of setting about the task of addressing the root causes of the conflict and devolving State power.
All previous attempts at devolution etc came a cropper because they were limited to only two parties the government in power and the LTTE and aimed at appeasing intransigent terrorists who used to up the ante. Other stakeholders were kept in the dark and devolution was forced on them as a fait accompli. The rest is history.
Past mistakes must not be repeated.
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nativerights
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 259
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 3 Jan 2012 23:16:00 GMT Report for Abuse
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TNA elected by Lankans at home
Government into IMF Western loans
Kandyans, Eastern and all provinces deserve and will take willingly |
sumana
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 2
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4 Jan 2012 13:22:09 GMT Report for Abuse
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Jayalath Jayawardana is in LTTE pay roll and he is Ltte spy.
We should not give Tamils Police and land power.
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Magnum357
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2085
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5 Jan 2012 12:15:41 GMT Report for Abuse
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talks on devolution have been dragging on for months. Whether anything will ever come of them is anybody's guess
Why 'guess'???? The FACT is that there will be NO devolution of land powers and there will be NO devolution of Police powers!
That is how the majority of those living in Sri Lanka want it. If anyone does not like the majority way of doing things in Sri Lanka then they can go to some other country where the majority does things the way the minority want and they can have their land powers and police powers in that country BUT not in Sri Lanka. |
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