Tamil aspirations and 13th Amendment-2

The 13th Amendment continues to be the focus of public debate despite  the announcement by Minister Tissa Vitharana, the chairman of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) that its proposals for a durable political solution will be submitted to President Mahinda Rajapaksa this week.
The APRC proposals will form the basis for the search for the final solution which may be a time- consuming exercise.  The president is expected to present the proposals to the political parties that did not participate in the APRC meetings, the UNP, TNA, JVP, JHU and MEP, and seek their reactions.
The UNP has already announced its cooperation to the effort to work out a final solution to the ethnic problem and its deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya has told the Daily Mirror that a political solution has become critical.
 Minister Tissa Vitharana has added another reason to stress the need for a political solution. He said that about seven Tamil militant groups entered the democratic politics in 1987 following the signing of the Indo- Sri Lanka Peace Agreement which formed the basis for the 13th Amendment and if that is not implemented they may take up arms.
He said in a media interview, “Basically what the Tamil people said during the separatist struggle was that we want a separate state with Tamil administration where the Tamil people would feel safe, be able to manage their own affairs, protect their culture, their own way of life and develop their economy.
“Now that phase is over and we have promised the Tamil people, ‘you will be given your due place within the Sri Lankan nation instead of the separate state you wanted,’ We have to tell them they can have an equal share in power. Therefore there need to be power sharing at the centre and power sharing at the periphery. That is how a political solution can be achieved.”
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which has 22 MPs in parliament has indicated its willingness to be part of the political process by attending the inauguration of the   Development and Reconciliation Committee convened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on July 2.
The TNA Politburo had decided to formulate its response to the APRC proposals by consulting the other Tamil political leaders, Douglas Devananda of theEPDP, V. Anandasangaree of the TULF, D. Sidddharthan of the PLOTE and Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, Chief Minister of the Eastern Province and the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulika; (TMVP).
TNA spokesman Mavai Senathiraja said their response will embody the Thimpu principles- Tamil nationhood, self-rule and self-determination. Thimpu principles were the common stand adopted by five major militant groups- LTTE, PLOTE, EROS, TLO and EPRLF- and the TULF. Devananda of the EPDP was then the military commander of the EPRLF. The Thimpu principles still form the basic policy of the TNA, TULF, EPDP and PLOTE.
The EPDP has in its website listed the following as its vision:
 Peaceful coexistence of all ethnic groups in a united Sri Lanka.
 Power sharing at the Centre for all, and autonomy for  Permanently merged North and East as a single Provincethe Provinces  Devolution of asymmetric powers to the North East Province
 TNA’s response is likely to reflect EPDP’s vision as the final solution that will satisfy the aspirations of the Tamil people. TNA proposes to submit its response to  India, US, Britain, European Union and other countries for their support.
According to the EPDP the final solution would be the third stage and would be preceded by the first and the second stage. The fist stage envisages the full implementation of the 13th Amendment and the second stage the reinforcement of the 13th Amendment by the conferment of additional powers to the North-East Provincial Council to make it the centre of greater authority.
Devananda has made it clear that an election should be held in the north and Northern Provincial Council should be constituted immediately. The he said, “Full powers should be granted to the provincial councils.”
Karu Jayasuriya is supportive of implementing the 13th Amendment.
It must be stressed that Tamils desire full implementation of what is provided in the constitution.
The Sunday Virakesari on July 12 carried a full page interview with Eastern Province Health Minister M.L.A.M. Hisbullah where he expressed his frustrations. He said the governor was interfering in everything and he was unable to give appointments even to peons.
More serious are the removal of some subjects allocated to the Provincial Councils. Agrarian services was one of the subjects in the Provincial Council list. 
The Provincial Councils set up their Departments of Agrarian services to deal with matters relating to land lords and tenant cultivators.
In 1991 the central government introduced in parliament the Agrarian Services (Amendment) Bill which was challenged in the Supreme Court on the ground the matter dealt in the bill was the responsibility of the Provincial Councils.
The Supreme Court ruled that since the bill dealt with national policy the subject of agrarian services should be regarded as a central government subject. The central government took over the subject of agrarian services following the Supreme Court order.
In 2003 the Supreme Court ruled in Madumma Banda v Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services that matters relating to tenant cultivators came under the Provincial Council List but the central government continues to handle agrarian services.
Even now two attempts are being made by the central government to check the powers of the Provincial Councils. An effort is being made to revive the amendment to the Local Authorities Elections Act which takes over the power of determining the areas of local bodies, now a provincial subject.  It is also reported that the central government is trying to alienate 35,000 acres of land in the Trincomalee district to two private investors.