lakbimanews.lk:APRC — NO CONSENSUS, JUST “MAJORITY VIEWS”

by Ranga Jayasuriya

Despite the assertions by the government that the All Party Representative Committee will present a political package on January 23, the proposed devolution package of the APRC will leave a number of political issues undecided. An inside source of the APRC told the LAKBIMAnEWS that a number of key issues remain undecided and the tug of war between the ultra nationalist constituent parties of the government and a combination of minority parties and the Old left have made a consensus virtually impossible.

“We will most likely produce a set of proposals and highlight the topics where disagreements still persist,” he said.
He said APRC would notify in its submission the stance of the majority of the Committee members over each of the contentious topics, where the committee has failed to reach a consensus. “This will however leave a large grey area in the proposals,” he said.
He said there are disagreements over the nature of the State, powers to be devolved to the provinces, unit of devolution and electoral reforms.
“We will outline where the majority decision prevails in all of these issues,” he said.
He however said the APRC had agreed to recommend the full implementation of the 13th amendment as a prelude to a substantial devolution of powers.
He said the proposal backed by the EPDP leader Douglas Devananda was taken up by the APRC which decided that the issue does not need further deliberation as the implementation of the 13th amendment could be done well within the existing constitutional parameters.
Minister Devananda has pushed for an Interim Council for the North-East. The President can appoint an Interim Council for the North East under the 13th amendment to the Constitution.

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