Some Ministers want 13th A strengthened

Chamikara Weerasinghe

Ministers belonging to Leftist political parties and senior SLFP ministers of the Cabinet on Monday urged the government to strengthen the 13th Amendment with a view to creating a united Sri Lanka.

Senior ministers, Prof Tisa Vitharana of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, D E W Gunasekera of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, Vasudeva Nanayakkara of the Nava Sama Samajavadhi Party and SLFP ministers Dr Rajitha Senaratna and Reginald Cooray at a press conference stressed on the need to devolve power from Colombo to the Provinces to ensure that power reaches to the people at the grassroots.

Senior Minister Prof Tissa Vitharana said there is lesson that we must learn from the past. In 1956, when then government tried making Sinhala, the only state language, the leftist parties requested that Sinhala and Tamil be made as state languages.

“Had the then Government paid heed to that demand, many conflicts we face today would not have materialised,” he said.

“We all know how this developed into a serious problem later. It gave rise to distrust, separatism and a war in the country,” he pointed out.

Presently, some elements have come up with the idea of abolishing the Provincial Council system. They have been saying that the system of Provincial Councils, out of which the people in the South have derived benefits for the last 25 years, should be abolished, in the wake of a Provincial Council election in the North.

“They say that the 13 Amendment to the Constitution should be removed, and its powers repealed ahead of a Northern Provincial election.

“What is the message relayed to the people in the North by this act?” asked Prof. Vitharana. “They are saying that they are not ready to give these people what they have been enjoying for the last 25 years. This is similar to what they have done to prevent the Tamil language from becoming a state language by their “Sinhala only” language policy,” he pointed out.

He said there is a need to build confidence between communities. “What is required now is to strengthen the Provincial Council system instead of trying to tamper with it to the extent of abolishing it”, he stressed.