{"id":152908,"date":"2025-11-08T16:21:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T23:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=152908"},"modified":"2025-11-08T16:21:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T23:21:29","slug":"opposition-leader-sajith-premadasas-declaration-to-fully-implement-the-13th-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/11\/08\/opposition-leader-sajith-premadasas-declaration-to-fully-implement-the-13th-amendment\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa\u2019s Declaration to Fully Implement the 13th Amendment\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Statement by the Sri Lanka Sovereignty Forum<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The\u00a0Sri Lanka Sovereignty Forum\u00a0expresses its deep concern and categorical opposition to the recent statement made by Opposition Leader\u00a0Sajith Premadasa, pledging to\u00a0fully implement the 13th Amendment\u00a0to the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a declaration represents not merely a political position, but a direct challenge to the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 13th Amendment was imposed under foreign duress in 1987, without the consent of the Sri Lankan people, and remains one of the most divisive and externally engineered constitutional impositions in our post-independence history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Concerns:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.    Externally Imposed Amendment:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 13th Amendment and the Indo-Lanka Accord were products of Indian coercion, signed under threat of military intervention. It cannot be regarded as a legitimate act of sovereign consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.    Threat to National Unity:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The devolution of land, police, and administrative powers to Provincial Councils risks creating quasi-separatist regional structures, undermining the unitary nature of the State safeguarded by Article 2 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, Article 9 enshrines the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana \u2014 an obligation that cannot be divided across nine provinces or subjected to regional authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.    Contradiction to the Spirit of the Constitution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Successive Supreme Court rulings and constitutional experts have affirmed that sovereignty is indivisible. Any attempt to transfer core powers of the State to regional units compromises the constitutional supremacy of Parliament and national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.    Irresponsible Political Opportunism:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when Sri Lanka requires strong national unity, economic stability, and disciplined governance, such promises \u2014 made to appease foreign interests or secure minority votes \u2014 are reckless and dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Position:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka Sovereignty Forum reiterates that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7      The 13th Amendment must be reviewed, not expanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7      National security and territorial integrity<\/strong> must take precedence over political expediency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7      Devolution must never become division.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7      True reconciliation can only arise from equal citizenship, economic empowerment, and unified national identity, not from federal-style fragmentation paving to separatism. The unilateral declaration of independence in 1990 is an example that cannot be forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We urge all political leaders to act with patriotism and foresight, resisting all forms of external pressure and partisan manipulation that threaten the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. The people of this nation have sacrificed too much to protect her unity to allow any leader to barter it away for political gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We urge citizens to pledge allegiance with political parties & politicians who undertake to protect the territorial integrity & sovereignty of Sri Lanka not be agents for foreign nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka Sovereignty Forum<\/strong>
Guardians of the Nation\u2019s Unity and Independence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Statement by the Sri Lanka Sovereignty Forum The\u00a0Sri Lanka Sovereignty Forum\u00a0expresses its deep concern and categorical opposition to the recent statement made by Opposition Leader\u00a0Sajith Premadasa, pledging to\u00a0fully implement the 13th Amendment\u00a0to the Constitution. Such a declaration represents not merely a political position, but a direct challenge to the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152909,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152908\/revisions\/152909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}