SLMC, ACMC launch consultative process

by P. Krishnaswamy

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) headed by Minister Rauff Hakeem and the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) led by Minister Rishad Bathuideen have commenced their consultative process on formulating proposals to be submitted to the Constitutional Assembly on power sharing arrangements under the Third Republican Constitution, now in the making, party sources said.

The proposals will be finalised soon and the details will be disseminated to the media as well, the sources said. Leader of the National Congress (NC), former minister A.L.M.Athaullah, said they would wait until the other two parties finalised their proposals to make sure that all the concerns of the Muslims have been incorporated in them.

The NC will present separate proposals only if there are major shortcomings in the proposals of the other two parties, Athaullah said. Senior sources of the SLMC meanwhile said their proposal will be based on party founder-leader A.H.M.Ashraff’s policy on a unit of devolution, annexation of all geographically non-contiguous areas of domicile of the Muslims of the North and East, with maximum power-sharing.

Asharaff announced the party policy decision immediately after the Indo-Lanka Peace Agreement on the Provincial Council system, as a power sharing arrangement with the Tamils, was signed in July 1987. The agreement was signed, completely sidelining Muslim leaders and without their consensus, or any consultations whatsoever, the sources said.

Legal and Constitutional Affairs Director of the ACMC, Rushdie Habeeb told the Sunday Observer the party will mainly focus on electoral reform because the new electoral reform to be introduced for future elections will of major concern to their community.

The ACMC is happy with the current PR system but if the other communities expressed a desire to implement a new electoral system, their party will have no alternative but to agree to it, he said, but added they would insist on a proper re-demarcation of boundaries of the electorates so as to ensure equitable and adequate representation of the Muslims, he said.

He said they were likely to oppose any change to the already finalised mixed system, providing for 70 percent election on a first-past-the-post system and the remaining 30 percent on the PR system, Habeeb said.

The committee appointed by the party to formulate a proposal will base its proposals on these lines and this has been provisionally agreed to among party ranks, he said.