Provincial Councils More problems than solutions
Posted on September 28th, 2020

By Sugeeswara Senadhira Courtesy Ceylon Today

On the sidelines of the debate on proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution to end the period of instability in governance due to the creation of two power centres by the 19th Amendment reducing the powers of the Executive Presidency, another debate on today’s relevance of another amendment, 13A has also arisen.

The three-decade old system of Provincial Councils has become the main focus, as the majority opinion seems to be that the 13A has resulted in duplication of administrative structures and entities placing a heavy burden on rapidly dwindling Treasury resources. Furthermore, the devolution of powers to provinces did not solve the issue of militancy-turned-terrorism problem in the North and the East and it took two more decades to militarily eliminate the curse of terrorism.

The Second Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced by the first Executive President, J.R. Jayewardene in 1978, was amended 19 times over the years and the 20th Amendment to the Constitution is already tabled in Parliament.

The 1978 Constitution was brought in as a solution to the country’s problems, but despite 19 amendments, the Constitution itself has become the source of many issues pertaining to the balance of powers between the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, the preferential voting system, devolution under the 13th Amendment, and the creation of two power centres as a result of the 19th Amendment.

In accordance with the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement signed by President Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1987, the 13th Amendment was enacted to set up the Provincial Councils. The provincial governance structure was established to devolve powers solely held by the Central Government as a solution for minority issues. But the Provincial Councils Law, enacted by the Government of President Ranasinghe Premadasa, failed to give due considerations to the Principles of Public Administration. As a result, wide powers were devolved to the PCs, thus shrinking the core administration of the Central Government.

Duplication of administrative structure

The duplication of administrative structure was the primary reason why the Provincial Councils have become white elephants. In 2013, the top public servant of the country, Lalith Weeratunga, the then Secretary to the President has said on Twitter that the Provincial Councils system is a white elephant.”

Under the old system, the District Administration was pivoted on the Kachcheri, which among other functions like enforcing the general laws and collecting revenue, also served as the provider of the general administrative services or the so-called housekeeping services such as providing space for the different departments or branch offices of the Central Government departments, providing centralised filing and record-keeping, centralised  communications etc, retired Civil Servant, R.M.B. Senanayake stated. The Government Agent was the Head of the Kachcheri and he was empowered in many laws and legislative enactments as the person in whom power is vested in the district for the implementation of these laws. But when the functions of the Central Government were devolved to the Provincial Councils, the Kachcheri continued to be under the Central Government, although the Government Agent was designated as the District Secretary. He should really serve as the Secretary to the Provincial Council. But instead of doing so and bringing the Kachcheri under the Provincial Council, the government of the day set up new institutions to function under the Provincial Council. So, there is duplication of the costs of the administrative establishment, Senanayake pointed out.

The five-year term of all the nine Provincial Councils lapsed and the provincial administration is currently under the Provincial Governors. Last year, the opinion of the Supreme Court on holding the continuously postponed PC Elections were sought and the Supreme Court clarified that the old Elections Act was no longer applicable and that the Elections should be held according to the provisions of the newly proposed Act, of which the delimitation report is a compulsory pre-requirement. The Government appointed a committee to compile the delimitation report in accordance with the new Bill on Provincial Councils Elections, which later presented its report to Parliament. This report was defeated by a two-thirds majority. Hence, the issue is deadlocked.

Last year, SLPP Chairman, Professor G.L. Peiris also raised the question of the future of Provincial Councils. People would question the practical need for Provincial Councils if the Government delayed elections to them any further,” he warned.

Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara, State Minister of Provincial Councils, asserted immediately after assuming office that land and Police powers will not be given to Provincial Councils. Such powers will not be given to Provincial Councils until the harmful elements of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution are abolished,” he said.

Last month, the National Joint Committee (NJC) has urged the Government to scrap the provincial council system and do away with the existing proportional representation system of elections. We have now existed without these provincial councils for almost three years. The provincial councils are white elephants which this country cannot afford. The 13th Amendment provides for the creation of ethnic enclaves by amalgamation of provinces,” the NJC statement said.

Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement

When the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement was signed, then Opposition Leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike lead a Satyagraha against it at the Bo Tree in Pettah and the leaders who were sitting with her included the current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. They opposed the Provincial Councils Act and after the PCs were established by the Jayewardene Government with its steamroller majority, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party boycotted the PC Elections for a decade.

Former Minister Milinda Moragoda also proposed last year that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution should be repealed and the Provincial Council system should be abolished, because they have become white elephants costing Sri Lankan citizens over Rs 250 billion annually. With the Provincial Councils out of the way, power should be devolved to specially to empower local councils and municipalities,” he said. Interestingly, Moragoda has been named next High Commissioner to India.

Since the 1987 Indo-Lanka Pact, the wheel has turned a full circle and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Government is today equipped with a two-thirds majority to decide the fate of the Provincial Councils.

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