These days, an opportunity has been created for the mainstream political parties to express their views on providing solutions for the grievances of the people in the North and the East. That is because the representatives of those parties met the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) representatives during their visits to Jaffna and exchanged views in this regard. The leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and the Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa has told a public meeting recently that he would fully implement the 13th Amendment (13 A). At the same time, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who also met TNA representatives at their party office in Jaffna, said that he agreed with the Provincial Council (PC) system.
Significant progress
The Leaders of two of the three mainstream political parties contesting the Presidential Election (PE) are in agreement with the PC system and the 13 A indicate that there has been a change in thinking in the country to provide solutions to the ethnic issue in the country. The reason for this is that some major political parties in the country are now in agreement on the PC system. Compared to the situation when the 13 A was brought in 1987 and PCs were established, the present thinking on these matters show a significant progress.
The PC system was established to give decentralisation to Tamil-speaking people living in the Northern and Eastern provinces. It was a result of a pact, which was signed between President J.R. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The then Prime Minister, the late R. Premadasa did not participate when this pact was signed between Premier Gandhi and President Jayewardene mainly because he was initially against the pact. But, it seemed that when the Government tabled the proposal on PCs in the Parliament, Prime Minister Premadasa had a positive stance regarding the PC system.
However, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and JVP had a completely different view on the PC system. The SLFP, which voted against the PC Bill and boycotted the first ever PC elections, did not contest it. The JVP’s attitude towards PCs was more atrocious. The JVP urged the people to boycott the first ever PC elections and those who went to polling booths to cast their votes were subjected to JVP’s harassment. They also killed a large number of members elected to PCs. Calling the PC system as an Indian model, the JVP commenced anti-Indian protests after the Indo-Lanka Agreement.
Language issues
Since independence, there have been demands that there should be enough devolution of power for Tamils and Muslims in the Northern and Eastern provinces to engage in their day-to-day affairs. There were also language issues. However, as a result of neglecting these long standing woes of these communities, we have to admit that it has gradually developed a distance between these ethnic communities. This has further aggravated due to communal riots that had taken place from time to time.
It appears that although previous Governments had taken different approaches to resolve these issues and tried to implement them, they could not achieve the desired outcomes. The 30-year war is another consequence of the failure of providing a meaningful solution to ethnic issues.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa ended the 30-year war and saved the people from LTTE terrorism. During the post-war period, his Government implemented several special projects to develop the North and the East of the country. However, since there was no durable solution for a long-term reconciliation process among the ethnic groups, the existing crisis could not be solved.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been engaged in finding a durable and meaningful solution for the ethnic issue through a peaceful approach. He has always believed that it can be solved through a meaningful reconciliation process and worked towards it even though it was a challenge for his political career. This is more evident from the measures that he implemented towards achieving this between December 9, 2001 and April 6, 2004.
After becoming the President on July 21, 2022 and up to now, President Wickremesinghe’s main focus was to solve the unprecedented economic crisis that imposed significant hardships on the country’s people. Secondly, his focus was on providing a permanent solution to the ethnic issue in the country. During the 15 years after ending the war, there were incidents that discredited Sri Lanka continuously at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions.
Economic development
As a result of the war, most of the Tamils migrated to Western countries and some sections of the Tamil Diaspora, which are operating from those countries, are holding campaigns against Sri Lanka.
Fifteen years have now passed since the war ended. Restoring harmony among all ethnic groups will promote economic development. An environment has now been created for the Tamils who have become refugees or residents of different countries to come back to their motherland and live peacefully. President Wickremesinghe, after becoming the President two years ago, has provided a sustainable solution for the ethnic issue.
President Wickremesinghe, in his statement in December 2022, requested that all political parties should work together to provide a durable solution to the ethnic issue. He said that an All Party Conference (APC) would be called in this regard and if a constructive solution could be reached at the conference, it would be announced on the Independence Day of February 2023 as it would be a milestone for the country’s future. He also said that a final solution could be given to the basic issues faced by Tamils on the 75th Independence Day, which would be held on February 4, 2023. However, none of the political parties showed any interest in reaching a solution before the 2023 Independence Day. On July 26, 2023, all party conference was called again but no final agreement to solve the issue could be reached as some political parties refrained from supporting President Wickremesinghe’s effort, stating that it was for a political gain.
From 2022 to the end of 2023, President Wickremesinghe was trying to reach an agreement on this with the blessings of all political parties. Calling this genuine effort as his political hoax, the JVP and SJB did not support it.
But, now all of a sudden for all of them, the 13th A and the PCs have become very important buzzwords. Now, they have included the implementation of 13 A and empowering PCs as their main promises among their chain of promises as they now feel that tapping the Tamil vote base is paramount to realise their dreams for Presidency. Therefore, some parties are ready to auction and buy 13 A to win the PE.
A durable solution must be given to the grievances of the people in the North and the East. Once again, these people should not become baits for election promises. The people of the North and the East are now well aware about the genuineness of the candidate, who is committed to provide them a meaningful and durable solution for their issues, among all other Presidential candidates. Therefore, there will be no huge impact of those political dramas done to win Tamil votes in the North and the East in the upcoming Presidential Election.
