ENB: APRC Proposals

APRC Proposals to President

The following are the proposals handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) yesterday, on fully implementing
relevant provisions in the present Constitution, in order to achieve maximum and effective devolution of powers to the provinces in the short term
ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE PRESIDENT TO FULLY IMPLEMENT RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION AS A
PRELUDE TO THE APRC PROPOSALS
1. Introduction
1.1 The APRC was mandated by the President to prepare a set of proposals that would be the basis for a solution to the national question. After 63 sittings over a
period of 1½ years the consensus document is being finalised and it should be possible to hand it over to the President in the very near future. The outcome would be
a basis for appropriate constitutional arrangements. Implementation of this would of course require amendment of the present Constitution, and in respect of some
Articles, approval by the People at a referendum. This would of course take time, once a favourable climate is established.
1.2 Under the circumstances, the APRC taking into consideration its own proposals, has identified a course of action to achieve maximum and effective devolution of
powers to the provinces in the short term. The emphasis would be on meeting the aspirations of the Tamil speaking peoples, especially in the North and East. This
would be done within the framework of the present Constitution, that is, the 1978 Constitution. The course of action proposed by the APRC would be implementable
with immediate effect, and envisages an interim arrangement pending the restoration of democratically elected Provincial Councils in the North and East.
1.3 The 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution was enacted following the Indo Sri Lanka Agreement of July 1987. It resulted in the setting up of Provincial
Councils throughout Sri Lanka and it devolved power to the Provinces under the unitary Constitution. The powers devolved fall under a Provincial List and a
Concurrent List. All other powers were reserved for the Centre through a Reserved List. Further, any subject or function not included in any of the three Lists will
also be deemed to be a subject or function in the Reserved List.
1.4 Implementation of subjects and functions devolved on the Provinces through the Concurrent List has not taken place at all due to the fact most of these subjects
and functions were retained by the Centre as if they also belonged to the Reserved List.
2. Steps necessary to permit Maximum Devolution of Powers to Provinces under the 13th Amendment
2.1 The Government should endeavour to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in respect of legislative, executive and administrative powers,
overcoming existing shortcomings.
2.2 Adequate funds should be provided by the Government to facilitate effective functioning of the Provincial Councils.
2.2.1 The Centre should hereinafter route all finances in respect of special projects undertaken by the Centre in the Provinces, if they are on subjects under the
purview of the Provinces, through the respective Provincial Administrations.
3.Special Arrangements necessary to permit Maximum Devolution of Powers to the Northern and Eastern Provinces under the 13th Amendment
3.1The APRC is of the view that conditions in the Eastern Province are conducive to holding elections to the Provincial Council and that elections should be
held immediately.
3.2Conditions in the Northern Province are far from being peaceful. A free and fair election in the North will not be possible in the near future. Hence an
alternative arrangement is required in the Northern Province to enable the people of that Province to enjoy the fruits of devolution.
3.3As it is not possible to hold elections in the North, the President could make appropriate order to establish an Interim Council for the Northern Province in
terms of the Constitution.
3.4 The Interim Council of a Province will aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his executive powers, and will function until Provincial Council elections
are held in that Province.
3.4.1The Interim Council should reflect the ethnic character of that Province.
3.4.2It is proposed that the Interim Council for a Province should consist of individuals who have political experience and an abiding interest in the development
of the Province and in its people and be acceptable to the people of the Province. A person to qualify for appointment as a member of an Interim Council should have
a thorough knowledge of the particular Province.4. Implementation of the Official Languages Provision of the Constitution
4.1The Government should take immediate steps to ensure that Parliament enacts laws to provide for the full implementation of Chapter IV of the Constitution
on Language.
4.2There are many contexts in which remedial measures will assume an administrative, rather than a legislative, character.
The following are instances of measures which should be strenuously accelerated and implemented by the Government.
(a)recruitment of Tamil speaking police officers in sufficient numbers to enable Tamil speaking members of the public, not only in the North and
East, but in the country as a whole, to transact business in their own language in police stations;
(b)the taking of all steps, including recruitment of staff and procurement of equipment to enable Tamil speaking members of the public to deal with
Ministries, Government Departments, statutory corporations and all other public bodies in their own language;
(c)the regular holding of, and streamlining of procedures for, mobile "clinics" where officials fluent in the Tamil language will engage problem
solving on the spot;
(d) the provision of interpreters, translators and other relevant facilities in all courts of law, so that the needs of members of provincial minority
communities are catered fully with regard to all aspects of the administration of justice;
(e) The Sinhala minorities in the North and East suffer from disadvantages similar to those affecting Tamil speaking peoples as mentioned above.
Suitable steps should be taken to address them along the same lines.
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The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) comprised:Sri Lanka Freedom Party United National Party (D) Jathika Hela Urumaya Ceylon Workers Congress Sri Lanka Muslim Congress All Ceylon Muslim Congress Mahajana Eksath Peramuna National Unity Alliance Up-country People’s Front Communist Party of Sri Lanka Eelam People’s Democratic Party National Congress Western People’s Front Lanka Sama Samaja Party

TMVP first armed group to receive political recognition ...
Govt rejects UNP claim, says Polls Chief recognised Tigers in 1989
by Shamindra Ferdinando

The government yesterday dismissed UNP and Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent claim that the TMVP (Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal) was the
first Tamil armed group given the political recognition.
"An absolute lie," a senior official said while accusing the UNP and the TNA (Tamil National Alliance) of trying to undermine forthcoming local government elections
in the Batticaloa district.
Pillayan, a hardcore ex-LTTE cadre seized control of the renegade outfit, which was once loyal to Karuna, who now faces the prospect of a jail term in the UK.
The official said that the TMVP wouldn’t be able to lay down arms as long as the LTTE carried weapons. "Without arms, TMVP cadres would be vulnerable," he
said while recalling President JR Jayewardene’s decision to issue hundreds of weapons to all registered political parties including the UNP, SLFP and now defunct
USA (United Socialist Alliance) to face the JVP challenge in the late 80s.
The UNP had conveniently forgotten the political recognition given to the LTTE during Ranasinghe Premadasa’s tenure as President, sources said.
Addressing a gathering of party activists at Sirikotha on Tuesday (22) Wickremesinghe said that this would be the first time an armed group was registered as a
political party. He warned that the forthcoming elections would be marred by violence due to the TMVP factor.
US Ambassador Robert Blake during a visit to Batticaloa reiterated Wickremesinghe’s concerns. He emphasized the urgent need to disarm all armed groups
operating in the East.
A senior official with the Elections Department Wednesday told The Island that the PFLT (People’s Front of Liberation Tigers)-the political wing of the LTTE, which
was recognised by the then Polls Commissioner Chandrananda de Silva, remained a registered political party.
This writer covered the press briefing given by LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham on December 20, 1989, at the Colombo Hilton where the advisor to the newly
formed political front revealed that their flag would be red of rectangular shape with the Tiger emblem in the middle. Mahattaya, Velupillai Prabhakaran’s second-in-
command was named the President of the PFLT and Yogiratnam Yogi its General Secretary.
Flanked by armed LTTE bodyguards, Balasingham and Yogi declared that they wouldn’t lay down their arms until the IPKF pulled out of Sri Lanka. The LTTE had
written to Polls Chief on December 4, 1989 and received political recognition on December 19.
This was done at the behest of President Premadasa, government sources said. The UNP leader couldn’t have been unaware of this, the sources said. The political
recognition followed the double assassination of TULF leader A. Amirthalingam and Vettivelu Yogeswaran at the latter’s Colombo residence.
Military sources said that political recognition was given in the midst of a bloody LTTE campaign in the North and East where it hunted down the TNA (Tamil
National Army) created by the IPKF and TELO, PLOTE, EPRLF and EPDP cadres. The LTTE received arms, ammunition and equipment from the government
while security forces received strict instructions not to interfere with the LTTE action, the sources said. In fact, security forces provided tactical support for LTTE
units to carry out massacres, the sources said.
The LTTE which won political recognition to contest the North East Provincial Council forced Premadasa to dissolve it, the sources said. The LTTE/PFLT continued
killings with impunity. The victims included M. Mansoor, a member of the North East Provincial Council.
Chandrananda also recognised TELO, PLOTE, EPRLF and EPDP as political parties despite all of them retaining arms, during Premadasa’s administration. This
came about after the LTTE resumed hostilities in June 1990 thereby forcing the UNP to forge an alliance with Tamil groups which it helped the LTTE to target.

Execution-style victims in Sri Lanka mass graves: police
Thu Jan 24, 1:22 PM ET COLOMBO (AFP)

At least 16 bullet-riddled bodies of unidentified men were found in mass graves in north-central Sri Lanka Thursday, police said.
Witnesses said some of the victims had their hands tied together and had bullet holes in their heads.
The decomposed bodies were found by local residents in the district of Anuradhapura in the government-controlled part of the island.
"Investigations have now begun to establish the identity of the victims and the circumstances in which they were killed," police said.
Local residents alerted a magistrate to at least one body that was found in the area. When police visited the site they discovered another 15 bodies in two adjoining
shallow graves.
"The bodies were dumped in shallow graves," a local resident who visited the scene said by telephone from Anuradhapura, located 206 kilometres (130 miles) north
of the capital Colombo.
Police said the bodies were taken to a hospital for autopsies.
Similar mass graves have been previously found in Sri Lanka's embattled northern regions, where the government is fighting Tamil Tiger guerrillas who are fighting for
independence from the island's ethnic Sinhalese majority.
Several people killed execution-style were also found in and around the capital last year, prompting the United Nations to demand it be allowed to set up a mission
on the island to monitor human rights.
The Sri Lankan government rejected the UN demand.
Earlier this month, the Sri Lankan government pulled out of a 2002 truce with the Tamil Tigers, and fighting between the two sides has been escalating.

India to back Lanka devolution package
By RAMESH RAMACHANDRAN
New Delhi, Jan. 24: India has for now decided to throw its weight behind the All-Party Representative Conference’s (APRC’s) interim recommendations for
devolution of powers in Sri Lanka.
In a calibrated response, India on Thursday said that the APRC recommendations are a welcome first step, provided they pave the way for a final settlement of the
ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.
"To the extent that the APRC proposals contribute to such a settlement, they are a welcome first step," ministry of external affairs spokesman Navtej Sarna said in a
statement here. New Delhi iterated that a settlement of the issues in Sri Lanka is to be done by the Sri Lankan people themselves in a manner acceptable to all
communities within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.
"The Government of India will continue to work with Sri Lanka and its people to bring about such a settlement of the issues in Sri Lanka," the statement said, noting
that Colombo has been good enough to share with New Delhi the interim steps recommended by the APRC for implementation of devolution provisions and official
language provisions of the Sri Lankan Constitution.
The four-page report of the APRC is titled "Action to be taken by the President to fully implement relevant provisions of the present Constitution as a prelude to the
APRC proposals." It was handed over to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo on Wednesday.
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) president, V. Anandasangaree has welcomed the report. Speaking on his behalf and that of D. Sithadthan of Peoples
Liberation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and T. Sritharan of Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (Pathmanabha), Mr Anandasangaree said that they "whole-
heartedly support" the implementation of the 13th Amendment in full, as a first step before a final solution is recommended by the APRC.
Mr Anandasangaree sought the "blessings" and "cooperation" of the 60 million Tamils living across the Palk Straits, in Tamil Nadu, for implementing the APRC’s
recommendations and urged them not to be "misled by a handful of pro-LTTE leaders on both sides."
"We assure the Tamils living across, that there is no attempt by anybody to annihilate the Tamils and contrary to that, more than half of the Tamil population is living in
the South happily among the Sinhalese and Muslims reposing confidence in them, far away from their traditional places of habitation," he said.
The TULF leader, who recently visited New Delhi with Mr Sithadthan and Mr Sritharan for talks with Indian officials, clarified that they have not changed their views
on the merger of the North and the East or a solution based on the federal concept.
"We assure everybody that while spurning violence, we will by non-violent means and in a friendly way continue to persuade the citizens of our country to agree that
no permanent solution can be found under a unitary system. We will continue to dispel the fears of those who think that the country will be divided. We will take all
steps to erase-off from the minds of our people the idea of separation and to strongly support the concept of a united Sri Lanka," Mr Anandasangaree added. The
APRC has recommended the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution, holding of provincial council elections in the East and establishment of
an interim provincial council in the North. The 13th Amendment stipulates that province will be the unit of devolution.
Sri Lankan President has said that he would prefer India to play a role in the resolution of the ethnic conflict in his country.

OPINIONS

What a wast of time, 65 sittings in one 1/2 years, to draft almost the same thing what was done 20 years ago. world is moving forward sri lanka is moving backward.
Posted By: Marlon

Are you sure this is all they have done in last one and half years. It is just 3 A4 size pagers with 900 odd words….WOW…
Posted By: DN

After wasting a lot of tax payers money these jokers have come with a set of proposals that's nothing new or innovative to solve the burning problem in the country
!!!!
Posted By: Dutugemunu

good work,make sure impliment this soon without fail
Posted By: wk

Ranil will not agree that is for sure.
Posted By: kamal

Good package. Now LTTE must agree to this and stop violence.
Posted By: Jerremy Huxtable

Are we going back to 1986/7 now?. This recomendation has less benifits than that of Indo/SriLanka accord. Welldone MR to suggest a solution and get it as a
recomendation..
Posted By: kumar

HELLO APRC,THIS PROPOSALS SEEMS TO PROTECT YOUR SEAT RATHER THAN NOT SOLVING THE COUNTRIES LONG TIME ETHNIC
PROBLEM. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL SAVE SOME MONEY AND RUNAWAY.
Posted By: ambi

Rename APRC as CRAP!
Posted By: Cynic

I cant beleive that this crap took half a year and millions of ruprees. Even a first year law student could have drafted this in a couple of hours. These people are
wasting our money by going around the world to draft so called proposals that are meaningless.
Posted By: Navin

What is the difference between CFA and this all are paper work. this is a doucument ,just want to show IC that they are doing some thing,in my view percy and
company play around with it
Posted By: mic

All are waste. Some infants should be able to prepare this. Why should all these Political Gentemen.
Posted By: BALAN

this is an eyewash for all of us. being a sinhala, i think we never try to solve the problem . we should understand that the world is going fast.but our politicians are still
in 19 century. so, give more powers to the minority to solve the problem. we are buddhists not a barbarians. so, should follow buddhism and try to safe guard
minorities nimal
Posted By: nimal

Sir, I myself did the proof-reading and I added just two comas and changed APRC to OPRC (One Party Representative Committee. Anton
Posted By: Anton Fernndo

it is a very good propsal if they should have released before 1956...now very very late our sri lankan so called leaders mmm... what we can say "MASTER OF
LATE"
Posted By: SMcN

To call this as the APRC proposal can we make sure that the respective party representatives have initialeld or agreed on these proposals. Otherwise its just waste of
time reading and talking about it. Professor needed so much of time and effort for this 2 page document?? It is so shameful when these professors also play the game
of politics and becoming part of the junk. Are these people setting any example for the fututre generation with their education and knowledge????
Posted By: Pawas

Even O/L student can write a better document than this. Trust me. give them an assignment and see the output. Someone sat and typed this document in an hour using
Microsoft word (maybe a notepad). This is the proof for how these politicians take our countries civil war as a joke. Dog bless you.
Posted By: M.Mauran