APRC politics after sixty years of Independence

(February 05, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The proposals of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) submitted to President Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2008 have accentuated Tamil fears about the intentions of the Sri Lankan government in finding a solution to the conflict that has resulted in widespread human suffering. The APRC’s actions appear to be in unison with the government’s preference of a military solution rather than a negotiated political settlement.

The APRC was born in an atmosphere characterised by a malaise of political opportunism. Sri Lankan governments, including the Rajapakse regime, have been engaged in an opportunistic political game throughout the post independence period that is either aimed at outmanoeuvring the opposition or placating political partners, at the expense of national unity, reconciliation and progress. In this process, the executive has undermined the judiciary and the legislature, often by threats, intimidation and physical harm to members of these bodies. As a result, the judiciary and the legislature have become subservient to the executive.

It is regrettable that the Japanese government has welcomed the interim proposals of the APRC, without making any reference to its inadequacy. This indicates the insensitivity and lack of understanding of the root causes of the Sri Lankan conflict on the part of sections of the international community that are closely involved in peacemaking efforts.

After 18 months of discussion and 63 meetings, the APRC could only come up with the recommendation that the Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution introduced in 1987 should be fully implemented. According to APRC members, the President informed APRC Chairman Tissa Vitharana on 9 January 2008 that the proposals must be submitted by 23 January and that the proposals should not recommend a federal system of government or go beyond the Thirteenth Amendment. In the circumstances, the APRC was forced to cancel a mid-January visit to Britain and Spain to study devolution. It is clear that the APRC has been intimidated and pressured by President Rajapakse to come up with these proposals.

President Rajapakse also submitted a document to the APRC on 9 January, tilted A political proposal: The way forward, which says that “although the 13th Amendment is an integral aspect of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, it has not been implemented in its entirety or even substantially, at any time up to the present”, and declares that “the Government will correct this situation by immediately commencing the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment”. The President’s document reflects his and the government’s determination to maintain Sri Lanka as a unitary state without any power-sharing. President Rajapakse has not only thwarted the APRC but also has undermined the democratic process itself as he has done on many other occasions. The question arises as to what happened to the many proposals submitted to the APRC by the various parties. These have not been published up to date. It is clear that the APRC process is neither independent nor transparent and lacks democratic accountability.

President Rajapakse appointed the APRC in June 2006 with a mandate to prepare a set of proposals that would be the basis for a solution to the national question. The APRC submitted its interim proposals to the President on 23 January 2008. As expected, the APRC has followed the “instructions” of President Rajapakse. Clause 2.1 of the proposals says that “The government should endeavour to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in respect of legislative, executive and administrative powers”. The APRC proposals have followed the Rajapakse document of 9 January in other matters as well.

Following the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 29 July 1987, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lanka Constitution was introduced in October 1987 providing for elected Provincial Councils. Under the Thirteenth Amendment, all power is held by the central government. The Governor of a Province is appointed by the President and is subject to control by the President. The functions of the Chief Minister and the Board of Ministers of a Province are to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions. Whether any matter requires the advice will be decided by the Governor on the direction of the President and this cannot be called into question in any court. The Governor has the discretion to ignore the advice of the Chief Minister and Board of Ministers.

The Governor can summon the Provincial Council, including ministers, and give instructions. If the Council fails to comply with any instruction, the President can declare that the powers of the Council will be exercised by Parliament and that the powers of the ministers will be exercised by the President. The Provincial Council cannot pass any laws imposing or altering any taxes in the province without the recommendation of the Governor. No funds can be withdrawn from the Provincial Fund (including funds allocated by the central government) without the sanction of the Governor. The President has powers under the Thirteenth Amendment to take over the functions of the Governor, the Chief Minister and the ministers and also declare that the powers of the Provincial Council are vested in the central Parliament. This cannot be called into question in any court.

The APRC interim proposals contain the following statement:

“Under the circumstances, the APRC taking into consideration its own proposals, has identified a course of action to achieve maximum and effective devolution of powers to the provinces in the short term. The emphasis would be on meeting the aspirations of the Tamil speaking peoples, especially in the North and East. This would be done within the framework of the present Constitution, that is, the 1978 Constitution.”

The current unitary Constitution says in Article 76 that ‘Parliament shall not abdicate or in any manner alienate its legislative power, and shall not set up any authority with any legislative power’. There cannot be real devolution of power under the 1978 Constitution and the Thirteenth Amendment, and furthermore, the Tamil people have emphatically rejected the Thirteenth Amendment. At the time the Thirteenth Amendment was introduced in 1987, Tamil representatives made their position clear, as regards its inadequacy, in writing to the Sri Lankan and Indian governments. APRC’s contention that there could be devolution of power under the Thirteenth Amendment and that Tamil aspirations could be satisfied under a unitary state and the Thirteenth Amendment is fraudulent and an attempt to mislead the international community.

The merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces as a single indivisible linguistic region has been a fundamental demand of the Tamil people, and the two provinces were merged as provided in the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987 which gave rise to the Thirteenth Amendment. The Oslo Declaration of December 2002 also recognizes the north-east region as the historical habitation of the Tamil speaking peoples. The Rajapakse government has ignored these important agreements and has taken measures to divide the two provinces, manipulating the judiciary in the process.

Breaking pacts, unilateral abrogation of agreements and failure to implement accords on the part of successive governments have determined the bloody course of history in Sri Lanka in sixty years of independence. It is in this context that the United National Party admitted in its election manifesto in 1977 that the lack of solution to the problems of the Tamil people made them to support the creation of a separate state. The situation has hardly changed in twenty years. The Tamil Information Centre emphasizes that proposals that aim to bring about a lasting solution to the Sri Lankan conflict must meet the aspirations of the Tamil speaking people, providing them substantial regional autonomy and self-rule on the basis of the right to self-determination in the areas of their historical habitation, where they could live in peace with dignity and security.