by Kalyananda Tiranagama
Executive Director
Lawyers for Human Rights and Development
(Continued from yesterday (03 Oct.)
President Wickremesinghe’s solution
It is evident from statements made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament and at public forums at different times that he believes that the most urgent task before him is to find a solution to the ethnic question acceptable to the Tamil political parties from the North-East. Shortly after taking office as Prime Minister of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government in May 2022, he told Parliament that he would take steps to address the grievances of the people of the North and East for devolution. significant gain of power through constitutional amendments with the consensus of other political parties. Addressing the National Defense College convocation in Kotelawala in September 2022, he said that he would bring a final solution to the problem of the Tamil people in the coming months and had already started discussions with Tamil MPs. During his discussions in London with the leaders of the Tamil diaspora groups, he had told them that he would provide a solution to the problem of the Tamil people which they found acceptable and sought their support for the economic development of Sri Lanka. Closing the budget debate in Parliament on November 22, 2022, President Wickremesinghe said he believed he would be able to deliver a solution to the Tamil national problem satisfactory to the Tamil people, with the support of all political parties, before the vote . December 31, 2022 and that he wanted to celebrate the 75th anniversary of national independence on February 4, 2023 with the participation of people belonging to all nationalities in a country free from ethnic problems.
On August 9, 2023, addressing the All Party Conference in Parliament, President Wickremesinghe said that the 13th Amendment is part of the Constitution, they are all obliged to give effect to all the provisions of the Constitution and that he is ready to fully implement it. the 13th Amendment, granting all powers, except police powers, to provincial councils.
However, when we look closely at his speech, we can see that he is not only fully advocating the implementation of the 13th Amendment, but is taking steps to grant powers far beyond the 13th Amendment, and under the guise of resolving the problems encountered. by the Provincial Councils in the exercise of their powers, considers adopting new laws to implement several key proposals contained in the reports of the Steering Committee and the Subcommittee on Center-Periphery Relations of the Constitutional Assembly from 2016.
Let’s look at President Wickremesinghe’s speech to the All Party Conference on August 9, 2023:
”The delegation of power within provincial councils is governed by the 13th Constitutional Amendment, which has the status of the supreme law of our nation. We cannot afford to ignore it. The executive and legislature are required to carry out its provisions…
“Many questions surround the implementation of the 13th Amendment, as well as the functioning of provincial councils. … If our nation is to progress, these problems must be resolved. The 13th Amendment must be implemented in a way that aligns with the development and future of our country. This can only be achieved if all members of Parliament reach consensus after a thorough and open debate.
“The distribution of power and authority between provincial councils, central government and local governing bodies lacks clarity. As a result, topics overlap between provincial councils and the central government, leading to duplication of efforts and delays in actions. Instead of solving people’s problems, problems get worse due to these inefficiencies.
”Today, I present my proposals and future actions regarding the 13th Amendment and the delegation of powers to this House.
“In recent years, numerous committees associated with Parliament have produced several documents which examine in depth the subject of provincial councils and their prospective trajectory. Among these documents is the interim report released on September 21, 2017 by the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Council of SL under my leadership. It is important to note that all parties represented in Parliament have endorsed the recommendations presented in this interim report.
· This statement is far from the truth. Many parties represented in Parliament had reservations about the recommendations of the interim report.
”The interim report proposes recommendations regarding amendments to Articles 3, 4 and 5 of the Constitution. We now submit these proposed constitutional amendments for consideration by Parliament….
· Here, the President speaks about the recommendations of the interim report for the amendment of Articles 3, 4 and 5 of the Constitution. Articles 3 and 5 being embedded clauses, they cannot be modified without the approval of the people in a referendum. Article 4, not being a well-established clause, can be amended by a two-thirds majority of Parliament, without a referendum.
· Article 4, although not enshrined, is a very important and vital article of the Constitution describing in detail how the sovereignty of the people and the powers of government are exercised by different organs of government – the legislature , the executive and the judiciary –. and appreciated by people.
· In numerous judgments, our Supreme Court has held that Sections 3 and 4 must be read and considered together to determine the constitutionality of Bills of Parliament.
· The wording of Article 4 proposed in the interim report is as follows: “The legislative, executive and judicial power of the people shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
· At first glance, this wording seems harmless. This is a clever wording crafted by cunning politicians which allows them to realize their sinister motives detrimental to the people and the country by enacting laws without touching Article 3.
· There is nothing in this proposed formulation of Article 4 which must be considered in conjunction with Article 3 of the Constitution and all judgments of the Supreme Court will become moot and the government will be able to pass bills which he could not adopt until now without being declared incompatible with the Constitution.
The president plans to give effect to the recommendations of the report of the subcommittee on center-periphery relations. The following recommendations are among the main recommendations of the report of the subcommittee on center-periphery relations:
(1) This report recommends deleting point 1 of the reserved list of the current Constitution “National policy on all subjects and functions” and providing for a consultative mechanism, involving the participation of provincial representatives in the formulation of national policies. policy.’
The President states: “In formulating national policy on matters contained in the provincial list, the central government will adopt a participatory process with the Provincial Council. No transfer of decentralized powers to the central government through the creation of national policies related to the subjects of the provincial list nor any impact on the executive and administrative powers under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Council. The executive and administrative powers necessary for the promulgation of the decentralized object will remain within the competence of the Provincial Councils. The Province will retain executive and administrative powers (execution powers) with respect to the said power.
The President had said that he would present the above proposals to Parliament as constitutional amendments so that the House could take them forward and take necessary action.
· Once this is done, the Provincial Council will obtain all powers – legislative, executive and administrative – with regard to the devolved subject. He cleverly used the phrase “enact the decentralized subject” instead of openly stating the powers required to enact legislation on the decentralized subject, in order to conceal the real intention and effect. The subject being now fully decentralized, the Provincial Council can adopt any law necessary for its application. Parliament has no power to pass any legislation on the subject as it is no longer on the national list.
· The power of the governor to withhold statutes for review by the president also automatically disappears because it is not necessary.
In his speech, the President said: “Furthermore, attention should be paid to the report of the committee established to examine the relations between Parliament and the provincial councils, as well as the report of the sub-committee on central relations. -periphery.
”Through these documents, the system of provincial councils asserts itself as an institutional framework which cannot be excluded from our system of governance. Even parties like the JVP and JHU, which do not see provincial councils as a solution to ethnic conflicts as units of decentralization, have recognized the need for specific amendments within the provincial council system and its aspects unchanged.
“This reinforces the idea that the provincial council has become an enduring element that cannot be excluded from the government structure or political landscape of Sri Lanka. “It is important to note that provincial councils have been established not only in the Northern and Eastern provinces, but in all nine provinces.”
However, apart from saying that the provincial councils were established and governed under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and have become an enduring element that cannot be excluded from the governmental structure of Sri Lanka, in his speech, President gave no reason. why they should be maintained or any other examples of the benefits people have received from provincial councils. He also did not indicate how they could achieve national unity and national reconciliation through the proposed amendments.
In his own words, the Provincial Councils have resulted in a colossal waste of public funds which could have been used for the benefit of the population. Here is what the President said:
“Our annual expenditure on provincial councils is around Rs. 4,000,000.550 billion. Have these municipalities justified this investment? Has this substantial funding really benefited the population? This is an aspect that deserves attention. We spend Rs. 22,000 for each person every year. We spend Rs. 22,000 which could be spent on our students for provincial boards. This is Rs. 88,000 which can be spent on a family of four. Do we benefit from it? »
Provincial councils have operated since 2017 without elected representatives or a council of ministers. In the 9 provincial councils, there are 9 chief ministers, 36 PC ministers and 408 PC members. The Chief Minister is entitled to the salary, perks and other benefits of a Cabinet Minister, a PC Minister is entitled to the salary, perks and other benefits of a Minister of State and a PC member is entitled to half the salary, benefits and other benefits of an MP. Most likely, the above amount of Rs. 500 billion could have been calculated without calculating this expense. This would be almost the same cost required to maintain the Diyawannawa lot. If this cost is also added to Rs. 500 billion, one can imagine the amount of losses caused to the country.
(To be continued)
