|
|
 |
| Sunday, 19 May 2002 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Proposal for interim council in NE by U.E. Perera There is a serious risk in not letting them have some share in the enjoyment of power for a state with a body of disenfranchised citizens who are numerous and poor must be a state full of enemies". - ARISTOTLE President Chandrika Kumaratunga, taking into consideration the dissolution of the Provincial Council for the Northern and Eastern provinces, Gazetted a set of regulations on 2nd November 1999,paving the way for the formation of an Advisory Council for the Northern and Eastern provinces to streamline the executive and administrative functions of the two provinces. main features: 1. The council shall consist of not less than eleven and not more than seventeen members appointed by the President 2. The council shall be constituted so as to give adequate representation to every administrative district in the Northern and Eastern provinces 3. The President may at any time remove a member of the council from membership of the council 4. The President shall assign one or more members of the council to every administrative district in the Northern and Eastern Provinces 5. The President shall appoint from among members of the council, a chairman who shall preside at all meetings of the council functions: (a) To advise the Governor with regard to (1) the restoration of Civil Administration (2) the maintenance of law and order in the Northern and Eastern provinces; (b) To submit proposals to the appropriate authorities, for the development of the Northern and Eastern provinces; (c) To advise the appropriate authorities as to the areas in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to which priority should be accorded for the purposes of development and as to the allocation of resources for such development; (d) To advise the appropriate authorities, as to the ways and means of raising revenue within the Northern and Eastern province; and (e) Generally, to liaise between the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces and the Government. Under these regulations, the President also had the powers to appoint a Board of Management consisting of five members of the council to assist the Governor and each member shall be assigned one of the following group of subjects:- (1) law and order, public administration and local government; (2) Finance, industry, infrastructure development, transport and highways; (3) education, culture, youth affairs and sports; (4) environment, agriculture and lands, fisheries and co-operatives; and (5) health, housing, women's affairs, social services and rural development. Based on these proposals a pragmatic solution could be evolved in keeping with the aspirations of the Tamil speaking people. The LTTE leadership has already announced its desire to have full control in the affairs of the council. They have even asked the other Tamil parties to disassociate themselves from this administration. It is said that they have already selected retired public servants to man the council. They intend to have a one party state within these two provinces. These state of affairs can only be a dream, it cannot be a reality. A popularly elected government, which derives its legislative powers from the electorate cannot allow two political systems or two political mechanisms to operate within the same body politic. When a multi-party system operates in the rest of the country, a one party system cannot prevail in the Northern and Eastern provinces. The proposed interim council for North and East, till a viable political solution is found can have a majority of Tamil representation. Not only the LTTE, the other Tamil parties such as the TULF, EPRLF, PLOTE, TELO and other groups should have representation in this council. However, there should be a system of balanced representation for the Muslims and Sinhalese living in these areas. Further, the Central Government should have the right to appoint its own members to this council, as it is only through the agencies of the Central Government that financial and other resources could be allocated for the rapid development of North and East. Foreign governments and donor agencies have already expressed their willingness to help the rehabilitation programs in North-East, provided permanent peace is ensured and these foreign assistance which will flow in billions is accountable and the accountability rests with the government. Already the Asian Development Bank has expressed its willingness to develop the A-9 Road. In these matters, with the co-ordination of the interim council, there should some kind of Central Planning. It is believed in political circles that the proposed interim council will have a life span of two years. Within this stipulated period, the required constitutional changes should enter the statute book. The political resolutions that will be brought in should alleviate the problems of the ethnic groups to their satisfaction. All the political resolutions and the constitutional amendments should help people living in Northern and Eastern provinces, individually and collectively, to make them shift from resistance to participation. The proposals enshrined in the Gazette Notification of 2nd November, 1999, under the authority of the President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga can thus be used as a guideline for the setting up of an interim council for Northern and Eastern provinces. However, some of the salient features of this Gazette Notification will not be acceptable to the Tamil militants and other groups. Therefore, a pragmatic approach from all parties is necessary to overcome these technical problems in an amicable way. This process would entail pre-negotiation preparation and encompass a range of actors from all sectors and segments of the Sri Lankan society, as well as international assistance. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
