EPC’s inaugural session today

Rasika SOMARATHNA in Trincomalee

Heralding a new Era in East the inaugural session of the maiden Eastern Provincial Council will get off the ground today with a simple ceremony to mark the occasion.

According to Eastern PC Secretary R. Thayagalingam, the swearing in of the newly appointed Provincial Council Ministers who are yet to take oaths, is slated to take place at 9.00 a.m before the Council sits for the first time.

These new appointees are scheduled to take their oaths in the presence of Governor Vice Admiral, Mohan Wijewickrema.

The reading of the proclamation by the Governor has been set as the number one item in the agenda.

Next the members of the Eastern PC are set to appoint the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council which is set for a vote if there are multiple contenders for the two posts.

According to Thyagalingam only a limited number of invitees are scheduled to take part in the maiden session which is to include close relatives of the elected members.

The Eastern PC consists of 37 members, with the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) having 20 slots and the United National Party (UNP) getting 15. In addition, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Tamil Democratic National Alliance (TDNA) have one seat each.

The first Provincial Council for the then merged North and East was established in November 1988 under the leadership of Vardhraja Perumal as Chief Minister which was subsequently dissolved in March 1990 by the then President.

As a result of a successful plea brought before the Supreme Court in 2006, the North and East which were united into a single province since 1988 were separated once again into two provinces.

Significant political and social changes have taken place in the Eastern province during the 18 years since the first North-East PC was dissolved in 1990.

Since the present Government assumed office, after numerous peace bids failed, Security Forces with the blessings of the Government launched a humanitarian mission to liberate the Eastern masses who were under LTTE tyranny for over two decades.

Thus after a successful mission the Government was able to bring the East under one banner with the fall of the final LTTE frontier the Barons Cap in late 2007. Then the Government wheels moved swiftly to develop the area in addition to establishing democracy through the political process in an attempt to empower the Eastern Polity.

This paved way first for the Local Government elections and next the most important Provincial Council polls, where the UPFA swept to power in the Eastern PC.

During the process Ex-Armed groups embraced the political process such as the breakaway LTTE faction TMVP and subsequently its present leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan became the Chief Minister of the first ever Eastern Provincial Council.