Focussing on 13th Amendment sans police powers ‘practical’, Sri Lankan President Ranil tells Parliament

President Wickremesinghe made a similar pitch to the Tamil parties in July 2023, days ahead of his first official visit to India

Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe. File | Photo Credit: AP

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on August 9 reiterated his offer to the Tamils, of implementing the 13th Amendment without police powers, while proposing a “step by step” approach to devolving powers to the provinces.

“Under the 13th Amendment, police powers have emerged as the most delicate issue in the transfer of authority to the Provincial Councils. As a result, I propose that it might be more practical for us to initially focus on reaching consensus concerning other powers,” he told Parliament in a special address. “It is advisable to progress step by step. Prioritising sensitive matters could potentially hinder the attainment of any mutual agreement,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said, even as Tamil political parties continue to voice frustration over the delay in meaningful resolution of Sri Lanka’s national question.

President Wickremesinghe made a similar pitch to the Tamil parties in July 2023, days ahead of his first official visit to India. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the largest parliamentary grouping of Tamil legislators from the island’s north and east, “categorically rejected” it, seeing the proposal far from its demand for meaningful power devolution based on a federal arrangement.

New Delhi has been consistent in underscoring the historic constitutional amendment — flowing from the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 — and the need for provincial elections, but the 13th Amendment has not seen full implementation in 36 years. Further, Sri Lanka’s provincial councils have been defunct for about five years now, owing to delayed polls.

Challenging critics of the provincial council system Mr. Wickremesinghe, in his parliamentary address on Wednesday, contended that provincial councils have “significantly influenced” Sri Lanka’s political trajectory, “nurtured skilled political leaders” and served as “stepping stones to executive and parliamentary roles.” However, provincial council elections would have to wait until certain laws are amended, he indicated, with no mention of a timeline for the much-delayed polls.

Responding to the President’s statement, TNA’s Jaffna MP Sivagnanam Shritharan said Mr. Wickremesinghe had “successfully confused” the entire country on the 13th Amendment. “Is the Sinhalese leadership ready to resolve the Tamil question at all? Can you come out of your racist mindset and look at these problems?” he asked.

Sri Lanka’s Tamil leadership has, for decades, sought to engage the Sinhalese leadership in Colombo on an acceptable political solution, but seen little progress. In a recent letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Wickremesinghe, TNA leader and senior Tamil politician R. Sampanthan wrote: “It is unfortunate that both the agreement and the 13th amendment have not yet been fully implemented. The Sri Lankan state misused and curtailed the powers assigned to the provincial councils under this agreement. Consequently, several crucial matters remain unresolved, and even if the 13th amendment were fully implemented, it raises concerns about whether all issues will be reasonably addressed.”

Intervening in the legislature during Wedneday’s debate, opposition MP and Tamil Progressive Alliance Leader Mano Ganesan told Mr. Wickremesinghe: “President Mahinda Rajapaksa had promised ‘13 plus’ [building on the Amendment], you have Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa who is willing to cooperate, this is the right time to solve the national question.”