Do we now need an APRC at all?

"It must never be forgotten that this APRC or the 13th Amendment, was unleashed on Sri Lanka by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and was totally rejected by the people and our country at that time. The country was initially shocked by it. It is indeed strange now that this same act is now being rushed through by the very people – Mahinda Rajapaksa and others – who totally rejected it."
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by Maurice Lord

(February 24,Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Soon after the heavily-flawed Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) has been abrogated comes another monster, the APRC. Supposed to be by all the parties, although it leaves out the major parties, the UNP and the JVP, it is in reality the independent proposal of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, according to the information now being revealed.
After having got rid of one monster, we are now threatening the country with yet another monster, at a time when we have enough and more troubles already – A truly unworthy and unnecessary exercise.

It must never be forgotten that this APRC or the 13th Amendment, was unleashed on Sri Lanka by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and was totally rejected by the people and our country at that time. The country was initially shocked by it. It is indeed strange now that this same act is now being rushed through by the very people – Mahinda Rajapaksa and others – who totally rejected it.

This was the time the LTTE received the blessings and support of India for what it was doing in the north against Sri Lanka, and little Sri Lanka was virtually bullied accepting it. Of course, the LTTE did not hesitate to kill Gandhi. Since then even the Indian tide has changed and today the Indian Congress seems to be becoming a little more concerned about LTTE terrorism.

Even if India says it supports the 13th Amendment it forced on Sri Lanka, why should Sri Lanka have to accept it? Can the people of this country be blamed if they want to rethink it or even reject it? Do we not have this right? Must we subject ourselves to India or even the international community?

Basically, this is hardly the time for the country and its people to think of the APRC. We just do not need it. We have a war on our hands. Now that all our efforts to bring the Tigers to the negotiating table have failed, and the lives of our people continue to be in danger, is there any purpose in our talking peace with the LTTE?

We should forget about talking peace and carry on retaliating. The country has no alternative but to destroy the Tigers and then engage in what has to be done to rid the north of the dictatorship that the Tigers have plunged the north into for the last 25 years.

From here the President has to look into graver issues, such as the problems of our people, particularly the poor. They cannot bear the burden of the heavy cost of living. The people are being crushed under this soaring cost of living. Many are perhaps going without at least one meal a day.

It seems tragic that whilst the people are having the hardest time of our lives, the country continues with its 225 Members of Parliament.

Look at the extravagance of Mihin Air, the wasteful expenditure on the Members of Parliament and the ministers enjoying themselves on trips all over the world, the VAT scandal. Hardly any effort is being made to halt corruption, and even those who are held responsible are not even being questioned about the huge looses that have taken place while they were in office.

Then we have the Constitutional Council (CC), which can now be appointed, and the President has hardly made any move to make any arrangements to make the CC function. The President should take immediate steps to instal the CC.

It is time for the President to give the country the right leadership and take immediate steps to call a halt to the suffering the people of the country are now undergoing and give them relief.
It is time for the President to reflect on what the people and the country are now going through – and have been going through for the last two years – and to realise that he must lose no time in granting them relief.

It is not possible for the people to endure the ongoing crisis indefinitely. Unless some relief is immediately forthcoming, then it will be matter of time before the people take the government to task.