Chief ministers express mixed sentiments on “13 plus”

22 January 2012 08:35 pm - 12 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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In the wake of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s assurance to India that powers would be devolved beyond the 13th Amendment, various chief ministers expressed mixed sentiments on the matter.

Shan Wijeyalal Silva, the chief minister of the Southern Provincial Council, said yesterday that powers should not be devolved to appease a single community. He said that it should be done to meet the aspirations of all communities. He said that the chief ministers could provide an effective service to the people with the existing powers.

Besides, said Mr. Wijelal, the provincial councils were able to provide an effective service even without land and police powers. He said that all that was needed were sufficient funds for the provincial councils.

However, he said he was prepared to work in accordance with the policies of the UPFA and its leader, President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Bertie Premalal Dissanayake, the chief minister of the North Central Province, also expressed similar sentiments and said the provincial councils enjoyed a fair amount of power already. He said his provincial council had access to land within his province. He therefore said there was no need for more powers.

Mahipala Herath, chief minister of the Sabaragamuwa Province, said he had to study the agreement which Sri Lanka had reached with India before making any comments.

He said he did not know the details of the discussions between President Rajapaksa and India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna during the latter’s recent visit to Sri Lanka. (Yohan Perera)

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Comments - 12

Sri Minnal Sunday, 22 January 2012 09:10 PM

Don't get too excited about 13th amemdment. Nothing will happen. MR joked with Indians. Don't take anything serious.

Ravi Monday, 23 January 2012 12:48 AM

that's right; the experts have said it all.
So ....; What the hell was the All Party Conference doing for months spending our Money; coming out with this 13th Amendment???

Handipora Monday, 23 January 2012 01:07 AM

This was expected reaction. Soap Opera, of the first order.

jeyarajah Monday, 23 January 2012 01:46 AM

Oh! ministers you have not understood the problems of the tamils yet.How can a normal poor tamil man can go and make
a complain in your provincial lang.Your province has no such problem,because the police and the public are sinhalese.The way the police treat the public is different that of tamils.You don't know how tamils find difficult to take a police report.They are unable to express their views in Sinhala and police can't understand tamil and the way they treat different community.
is different that of you."study our lang. and follow our religion"
is J.V.P's solution."NO",we want a police to have friedly deal
and solve our daily problem in our province.You have your own defence minister,majors,commandors,regiments etc,etc,
I.G.P.everything and why you are scared of providing tamil police to tamil areas .If you are so scared ,find some other solutions to solve the problem of normal citizens of this provinces.But don't compare your province with north.

Calistus Jayatilleke Monday, 23 January 2012 02:14 AM

Looks like the "Muhurath" ceremony of that "movie" announced by Lal Kantha has already started, with the obvious blessings of the "Director" himself! Next would be the main actors, i.e. "heros" coming out strongly with death fasts and shaving of heads!

Ruwan Ferdinandez Monday, 23 January 2012 05:45 AM

What mixed? They all support the government and rightly so.

Engineer Monday, 23 January 2012 07:35 AM

Solution to this can be formulated federally without devolving police powers. The central government understand each province has its special needs, arrangements can be made to meet those special needs.

Damsen Monday, 23 January 2012 07:47 AM

Dear Mr Jeyarajah,If your problem is communicating with tamil community,You just want tamil speaking police officers and not police powers to the Provincial councils.Don't you think so?

Vimal Carlos Monday, 23 January 2012 07:53 AM

In europe minorities shuld learn the mayority local language .

Why not after 4000 years tamils cant even try to learn it ? Why shuld WE as mayority please the minority .

TELL ME . Even do sri lankans is a big minority in Italy, shuld we demand singhala speaking police there????

Hoodwink Monday, 23 January 2012 08:20 AM

Mixed or unmixed they are only left with hobson's choice. It is not the case of asking how and why but simply do or die. If they do not toe the line the fate that befell SF could be theirs. May be to languish in Jail on frivolous charges.

srilal Monday, 23 January 2012 08:35 AM

13th amendment was proposed as a result of the INDIAN TROOPS (IPKF) failure to defeat LTTE terrorists. It is a 100% Indian solution. Now there is no LTTE, situation is different, We need a Sri Lankan made local solution for all peace loving Sri Lankan citizens.

wasantha Monday, 23 January 2012 09:58 AM

Hello Jeyarajah: Per your post, the issue is with neither land power, nor police power. It is a language barrier. Yes, the government officials should have the ability to effectively communicate with the people they serve. Is the situation same even in Colombo? There are many Tamil police officers have served to Sinhalese speaking areas without any problem. We don't care to which language he or she is born to. Only matters their service. One thing we should keep in mind, there are no your or our ministers, commanders or police. They all are from Sri Lanka. If we really want to find a solution, we should have to change our mindset first. I believe that every citizen in the country should have the opportunity to exercise equal rights. We all know that there is an issue with that. So we have to work together to solve them. We should all urge the authorities to effectively implement tri-lingual policy.

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Chief ministers express mixed sentiments on “13 plus”

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