Govt. in talks with India
By a Staff Reporter-2013-06-21 

The government has already begun diplomatic negotiations with India on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, said yesterday.

The apparent lack of ‘government level’ interaction between Sri Lanka and India regarding the 13th Amendment does not mean the required diplomatic attention is not being given to the matter, he added. Addressing the media during the weekly Cabinet briefing,  Rambukwella commented on the growing Indian concerns over what it considers as ‘Sri Lanka’s inability to stay true to the specifications of the Indo-Lanka Accord,’ and said,“There is a system to address the Indian concerns over the 13th Amendment at government level, although this may not be evident to onlookers” and claimed everything cannot be revealed at the moment, but when the matter comes to a conclusion, all will be revealed.

He also said, the Government of Sri Lanka was the body tasked with taking decisions regarding the 13th Amendment, but that does not mean the government will override the Constitution, or the people who elected it.” Stating that ‘consideration should be shown’ towards Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s apparent disappointment at the Sri Lankan Government’s efforts to revise the Amendment, he said the 13th Amendment was brought to the country ‘in times of war,’ and the Sri Lankan populace, now as a sovereign people, should be given the freedom to discuss the matter openly.

“At that time, organizations that claimed to have had international backing, were bent on dividing the country. Now we are independent, and the rights of the people must be acknowledged first and foremost,” he said.

Rambukwella confirmed the clause allowing the amalgamation of Provincial Councils will be removed from the 13th Amendment. “No time frame has been given in this regard as of now, but it will be implemented as soon as possible when the Parliamentary Select Committee is convened,” he said, adding the need for revision of clauses dealing with police powers will be considered as well.

When asked whether a referendum will be held on the revision of the 13th Amendment, he said, “Everything will be done according to the Constitution.”

 When asked about the recent question and answer session held by Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, where he had stated the government was inclined toward ‘taking power devolution to the smallest possible level,’ Rambukwella said, “The people must be given the final opportunity to make decisions important to them, and Weeratunga has acknowledged this fact. We will be addressing the issue of power devolution in the future, and the ‘unit of power devolution’ will be downsized or enlarged, wherever necessary.”