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Q:
The Government proposes to devolve power by enforcing
completely the provisions of the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution. What is your party's view on this?
A: First we must understand how the 13th
Amendment came about. It was not an amendment which the
"democratically elected parliament" of Sri Lanka, and I
mean here the UNP regime of JR Jayawardene, wanted. We
must remember that the lifetime of the parliament then
was prolonged by another five years by a fraudulent
referendum held on 22nd December 1982. We are not his
admirers as we are painfully aware of his misdeeds. But
the 13th Amendment was thrust upon him by the Indians
with Indian gunboats outside Colombo Harbour. Indians
had started the ethnic war by training, and arming all
the separatist groups in a classic case of cross border
terrorism. And when the army was about to capture
Vadamarachchi India threatened us and said to have
whisked away Prabhakaran in a helicopter. The 13th
Amendment was a projection of the will of India not of
the will of the people of Sri Lanka. Only when the whole
of Sri Lanka is united and all the people can freely
exercise their democratic rights can we think of any
changes from the present situation. We should not do any
changes at the behest of any foreign powers including
India.
Government must give top priority to restore democracy
particularly in the North and the East. An environment
must be created in which people could come out with
their grievances. Every citizen must participate in the
process of going for a new constitution which will
strengthen democracy. Japan took nearly five years after
the END OF world war II. We DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE
PRESENT CONSTITUTION OR ANAMENDMENT TO THIS CONSTITUTION
WILL STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY. We have already raised our
concerns regarding the Executive Presidency and the 13th
amendment to the constitution. On 18th September 2005
the then Prime Minister agreed to abolish the Executive
Presidential system. Even the creators of this "Ugly
Creature" the UNP is now proposing reforms to the
constitution including reducing the powers of The
Executive President. We must not be in a haste to draft
constitutions now. The President will have to abide by
the Mahinda Chintanaya.
Q:
You have declared publicly that the APRC should be
abolished. In this light of this demand, how do you see
the APRC formulating proposals to enforce the 13th
amendment.
A: We consider the APRC as an anachronism, not
representative of the free will of Sri Lankan people.
Very different from how constitutional changes were made
in countries like the US or India. We reject by
definition any recommendations made by such a body. Most
of all It is not an all party representative committee.
It is not represented by the JVP and the majority
faction of the UNP. It is only a committee of
representatives of the parties of the coalition that
'governs' the country. So we urge the government not to
mislead the people by calling it an all party
representatives committee. It has no mandate to draft
proposals to amend the constitution.
Q: If the JVP is not in favour of the devolution of
power through the 13th Amendment, what will the party do
if the Government goes ahead with it.
A: The 13th Amendment has to be rethought because
it was not democratic. Studies done by the OPA has shown
that the Provincial Councils were a waste of money. Even
a UNP document mentions that. Application of the 13th
Amendment to fields like health and education has been a
disaster. Decentralization of Administration even up to
village level and also with enough funds will certainly
solve the problem. We must not even think of drafting or
implementing any proposal that will finally aggravate
inequalities. No changes for "A FEW DOLLARS MORE"
please. As a beginning, first all the Muslims,
Sinhalese and non LTTE Tamils chased away by the LTTE
should be resettled with compensations for what they
lost and denied by the LTTE in the North and the East
before we can even think of any changes. Changes in the
mode of government should be brought about only in
peaceful times. If it is rushed through now we will
resist it. If it gives police and defense powers to PCs
when LTTE coercion is there, it should be resisted at
all costs. Tamil and Muslim and also Sinhala (according
to the requirements) police officers should look after
police powers. The average federal state in India is
roughly the size of Sri Lanka and has the same
proportion of minorities. If a state in India can run
without internal ethnic divisions so can we.
The most important thing is we must have at
least five years of peace to freely reflect on any
changes in the form of government. We will resist any
changes brought about in a non peaceful atmosphere under
pressure of the so called International Community or
Local lackeys of imperialism. |
