OPA on 13th Amendment
The Executive Council of the Organisation of Professional
Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA) adopted a resolution on the 13th
Amendment at its meeting held on November 22.
The OPA having considered that:
a. Neither the government nor the people of Sri Lanka requested or
called for the introduction of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution;
b. 13th Amendment failed to achieve the purported purpose for which
the said amendment was thrust and forced on the people and the
government of Sri Lanka, namely the end to the separatist war waged by
terrorists;
c. Terrorism was finally defeated by the government and people of Sri
Lanka not with the 13th Amendment but with the cooperation of the people
of Sri Lanka and the Armed Forces, 22 years after the 13th Amendment was
introduced;
d. The Provincial Council system created under the 13th Amendment has
totally failed creating additional and unbearable financial burden on
the people of Sri Lanka and adding additional administrative confusions,
burdens, misery and hardships to the people;
e. Provincial Councils or any such alike system, as was shown in the
first North-East Provincial Council, is a temptation to separatism and
also segregation of the people;
f. 13th Amendment is a threat to the sovereignty, independence and
unitary status of Sri Lanka;
g. There is a visible threat to the very identity of every citizen of
Sri Lanka as Sri Lankans belonging to one country and one nation and the
13th Amendment or any such laws should be repelled and rejected.
The OPA notes that the 13th Amendment contains certain provisions
which are valuable and salutary and such provisions need to be retained
with necessary amendments to the Constitution.
OPA verily believes that these provisions need to be further expanded
for the benefit of the people. |
