Sri Lankan President asks parties to submit 13A proposals, parliament to take 'final decision'

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday said he would fully implement the 13th Amendment to make the system of provincial councils more meaningful by reducing the central government's powers to curb their functioning, and asked all political parties to submit their proposals on the issue so that the Parliament could take a "final decision". The move is part of Wickremesinghe's reconciliation efforts with the country's minority Tamil community, which has been demanding the implementation of the 13th Amendment (13A) that provides for devolution of power to it.

The 13A was brought in after the India-Sri Lanka agreement of 1987. It created nine provinces as devolved units with a temporary merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces. In a special statement in Parliament, Wickremesinghe said, "No political party is opposed to the 13A. I invite them to do an in-depth study of ways to devolve power through 13A. I ask them to submit their proposals so that the Parliament could take a final decision on it.” "It should be the Parliament to decide on the future role of the provincial councils,” he stressed.

The President reiterated that he would bring in the amendment to make the system of provincial councils more meaningful by reducing the central government's powers to curb their functioning. Wickremesinghe said the stalled provincial council elections could be held after the Parliament’s agreement on their powers. The elections for the nine provinces have been on hold since 2018 following a move to introduce electoral reforms.

It now needs a parliamentary amendment to enable the elections to be held under the existing proportional representation system. Wickremesinghe said the party deliberations for common ground on all powers, other than the police powers, must commence immediately.

Last month the president had assured the Tamil parties that the contentious 13th Amendment will be fully implemented, without police powers, in the provincial councils. In his address, Wickremesinghe also highlighted the issues of immediate concern for the Tamils and stressed the importance of improving air and sea connectivity in the Northern region.

He said the government plans to enhance the Kankesanthurai (KKS) Harbour, Vavuniya and Palaly airports -- all in northern Sri Lanka, and establish a ferry service between the Northern Province and southern India. Responding to Wickremesinghe, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said he would extend his Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party’s well-considered support to the move.

At the same time, he urged the president to hold the local council election. which has not been held despite setting an early March date. However, most Sinhala political parties remain opposed to the idea of empowering provincial councils on the ground that granting full powers to them would pave the way for the separation of the north and east from the island nation.

The main Tamil party TNA (Tamil National Alliance), though open to a federal solution, is stressing the need to hold the provincial elections. In his recent two-day visit to India in July, 13A figured prominently in Wickremesinghe's wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi had reiterated India's wish to see the full implementation of the 13A.

Wickremesinghe has come under fire from the majority Sinhala community parties for bringing forward the issue of devolution at a time when the country is grappling with its worst-ever economic crisis. They say the president’s action is a political stunt to woo the Tamils ahead of the next presidential election due in the last quarter of 2024.

Sri Lanka has had a long history of failed negotiations to end the Tamil claim of discrimination by allowing some form of political autonomy. The Tamils put forward their demand for autonomy after gaining independence from Britain in 1948, which from the mid-70s turned into a bloody armed conflict.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ran a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the Northern and Eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its collapse in 2009 after the Sri Lankan Army killed its supreme leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. According to Sri Lankan government figures, over 20,000 people are missing due to various conflicts, including the three-decade brutal war with Lankan Tamils in the north and east, which claimed at least 100,000 lives.