1987 pact with India to be implemented: Sri Lanka

By P.K. Balachandran, Colombo , Jan 24 : Sri Lanka said Thursday that the recommendations of an all-party panel on devolution of power to the provinces reflected a collective resolve to fully implement the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987

"It is a fact that after 20 years the present formulation will see the letter and spirit of the agreement of 1987 being fully implemented in the areas it was intended to serve," Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said here.

"What is most significant about the present consensus is that political parties, both in the north and the south, have demonstrated a spirit of political flexibility in extending their cooperation to the proposals," he told reporters.

The All Parties Representative Committee (APRC) submitted a report to President Mahinda Rajapaksa Wednesday, recommending full implementation of the 13th amendment of the constitution that was based on the 1987 India-Sri Lanka pact.

The 13th amendment had created provincial councils enjoying a modicum of power devolved from the central government. But the provincial council of the north-eastern province, inhabited predominantly by Tamils and Tamil-speaking Muslims, ceased to exist in 1990, thus creating a grievance among the minorities.

The foreign minister said that the APRC's report stood out for three things: the recommendation to set up an Interim Advisory Council for the northern province; for seeking elections to a full-fledged provincial council in the east; and the call for the full implementation of the constitutional provisions for the use of Tamil, one of the official languages of the country.

The Advisory Council would consist of people from the civil society and leading figures from various walks of life and those with knowledge of the area. It will be temporary till elections are held to pick a new council.

The minister said that all previous attempts to resolve the dragging ethnic dispute had failed because there was no collective resolve over power sharing.

He claimed that there was consensus on the APRC's bid to fully implement the power-sharing system as envisaged in the 13th amendment of the constitution.

"Even those who opposed the amendment when it was passed are now operating within the provincial councils system, fighting for elections and taking part in provincial governance," he said.

Although President Rajapaksa is yet to say he has accepted the APRC's recommendations, the minister spoke as if the president had already accepted them.

Asked if Tamil Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran would be included in the Advisory Council, Bogollagama said: "He qualifies to the extent he is a citizen of Sri lanka and has knowledge of the area. But he would have to give up violence and terrorism first."

But the minister ruled out a merger of the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.

Source: newkerala.com