DO NOT HAVE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS, PLAN TO ABOLISH 13 A AND RESTORE UNITARY CONSTITUTION
Posted on August 17th, 2020

RANJTH SOYSA

Sri Lanka has reached an important threshold of her history with the conclusion of the General Elections and the undisputed victory of the nationalist forces led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, While we still remember the memorable victory of Mahinda Rajapaksa. over the Tamil Tiger terrorists in another epoch, we could not make use of the opportunities

created to pave the way for the defeat of anti-nationalist forces to wrest the control of affairs of the country in 2015. The action plan of the Yahapalanya completely overturned the destiny of the country in that the war heroes who saved the country from the rule of terror of the Tamil Tigers were hunted down and Sri Lanka became the co-sponsor of UNCHR resolution which was drafted on the assumption that our forces committed human rights violations, ‘discovered and concocted ‘ by some NGO scriptwriters and their fellow travelers. In regard to internal affairs, in our attempts to give recognition to the term, “reconciliation ” we were made to forget the separatist specter which was active in the country from the time of Independence. In the end, with the Islamic terrorists killing nearly 300 unarmed civilians the chapter on Yahapalnay ended proving again that the State should be strong enough to protect the people and the country at large.

One of the most critical issues which need the attention of the new government is to consider introduction of a unitary constitution for the country doing away with the 13ht amendment based on JR/Raviv accord signed on 29th July 1987. The 13th A  not only diluted our constitution but also created a white elephant in the form of Provincial councils. The history of the Provincial Councils in Sri Lanka teaches us a lesson on how not to create tiers of administration which provides jobs for the marginalized politicians, how not to waste public funds and enterprise. The colossal wastage of funds on the running of the Provincial councils is a crucial factor to be recognized in the management of the post-Corvid economy. Based on the official sources. the expenditure figures are as follows.

“Sri Lanka Provincial Councils: Expenditure -1996 – 2017 | Yearly | LKR mn | Ministry of Finance

 Sri Lanka’s Provincial Councils: Expenditure data was reported at Rs 286,031.000 million in Dec 2017.  In 2016 it was Rs 276,147.000 million For the 31 years of the Provincial councils the expenses incurred had been calculated to be Rs 3.2 billion according to one reviewer. At present. the salary component of the expenditure is estimated to be  65% of total expenditure was spent on manpower while only 16% of their total budget was used for capital expenditure.” This abominable practice of spending money for the survival of the men in power cannot be justified under any acceptable criteria.

An important issue in creating the Provincial councils was that it would provide more opportunities for the minority Tamil people in the North and the East provinces. However, when the facts are analyzed one can conclude that it was again only an opening for an additional set of politicians to enjoy at the expense of the public funds. It was the central government that drove the economy and administration while the Provincial Councils enjoyed the ill-gotten benefits.

Therefore, the new nationalist government should;

1 Not plan to have elections for the Provincial Councils as it will be a big drain on the coffers of the country and it will a stepping stone to revive PCs. The present need is to spend every cent to plan the development and the administration of the country hit by COVID 19.

2 To initiate a course for the abolition of the 13 A and restore the Unitary Constitution of Sri Lanka within the next 3 months.

3 To draw up a plan to accommodate minority representation at the center through a second chamber or delegating powers to expedite the implementation of economic plans to joint District Development Councils.

RANJTH SOYSA

2 Responses to “DO NOT HAVE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS, PLAN TO ABOLISH 13 A AND RESTORE UNITARY CONSTITUTION”

  1. Priyan Wijeyeratne Says:

    Hey Ranjith, I agree 100% with you, fucking waste of resources and an incubator for separatism. I wish GR/MR will have the guts to abolish it asap.

  2. Ratanapala Says:

    Sri Lanka did not hold the Provincial Council Elections for now nearly 3 years. We have hardly seen anybody crying foul over not holding these elections – in the least not even those in the North and East. These councils were brought about first to benefit those provinces but the very people in these provinces don’t seem to have any need for them.

    The provincial councils in the other seven provinces were an after thought by JR. Nobody asked for them, although there will be many who wants them just to get on the gravy train of graft, influence and power. People have no appetite for such either.

    The very subject of the Provincial Councils should be allowed to lapse ad infinitum and gradually fade away from people’s memory. The only postive factor I see is that the existence of the PC is a currently a deterrent to the MCC proposals. I may be wrong!

    These structures favour the politicians and those who know how to manipulate and garner power through them for political purposes – in short keeping supporting politicians happy. These councils are plain and simple for granting priviledges to disgruntled and failed politicians. I am confident that GR has no taste for such structures, whereas MR being the quintessential politician he is, will still want to have them. In the end they must decide what is best and what is best to do under the current economic situation during Covid-19 and post Covid-19!

    My only hope is that the existing power structures in the world too will diminish in their malefic influences over less endowed nations!

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