A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Eastern Province Wants Full Implementation Of 13A
The Eastern Provincial Council yesterday passed a dramatic resolution
during its sessions last afternoon, calling for the full implementation
of the 13th amendment.
The resolution wants all powers entitled to the Councils by the 13th
Amendment to be granted and rejected proposals to dilute the 13A as
attempted by the Government a few months ago.
The resolution was debated and passed in the Council despite massive
resistance from the Eastern Province Chief Minister Najeeb A Majeed.
The resolution was presented by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress whose seven members in the 37 seat EPC usually supports the UPFA.
The TNA and UNP supported the resolution while many of the UPFA
councillors were not present. However, without the SLMC support, the
UPFA would still not have a majority in the EPC to defeat such a
resolution. The resolution passed with a majority of 16 to 1.
The Chief Minister of the Eastern Province walked out of the chamber
when the SLMC and Opposition members insisted on the resolution being
debated.
The only Councillor to vote against the resolution was Priyantha Pathirana of the NFF led by Wimal Weerawansa.
With the resolution passed yesterday, the EPC becomes the only
Provincial Council to oppose the central Government’s proposals to
revise the 13A and dilute the powers of the councils. Seven other
councils have approved the Government’s plans. The Northern Provincial
Council which was recently elected is also likely to vote overwhelmingly
against changes to the 13A.
The Government initially hoped to bring revisions to the amendment and
slash the powers of the councils ahead of the Northern provincial
election although the attempts failed after New Delhi exerted pressure
on Colombo.


