Can PCs be converted to development coordinating bodies sans law making power? “asks Govt MP

Ruling party MP Gevidu Cumaratunga queried in Parliament yesterday whether it is possible to convert the present Provincial Councils into Development Coordinating Institutions sans a law-making authority.

Making his remarks during the debate on the report of the Presidential Commission which probed the Easter Sunday attacks, he said it was important to look at whether it was possible to convert the Provincial Councils into Development Coordination Institutions.

He also said that it was important to implement important recommendations made by the Presidential Commission. “The Presidential Commission has recommended the banning of Wahabism and religious and ethnic based political parties and that distribution of lands according to the ethnic ratio should be implemented as soon as possible,” he said.

“The Presidential Commission had recommended another probe to determine whether there was any foreign hand behind the attack although, the Opposition is criticising the Presidential Commission report saying it had failed to determine the mastermind behind the attack,” he added.

“Though the Opposition is blaming that the present government used the Easter Sunday attacks to come to power, it appears that the previous government would have benefited from it. Further, the Presidential Commission Report had revealed that Zahran and the group were planning a second wave of attacks. The previous government would have been able to postpone the presidential elections if the second wave had been carried out,” he said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)