President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is reported to have told a Tamil National Alliance delegation who had come to meet him that the problems of the people of the North and the East can no longer be addressed through outdated political solutions. In its Election manifesto, the National People’s Power (NPP) said that it did not agree that Provincial Councils (PCs) were the answer to the ethnic conflict. However, it also recognised that the Tamil and Muslim communities believed that the PC system was in their interests. Therefore, the NPP promised to continue with it until they replaced it with something better. Government leaders have been articulating the same view more recently as well. They have also been issuing ambivalent statements on the timing of the PC Elections. The current position of the Government appears to be that they will conduct the Elections after the re-demarcation of the electorates takes place.
In the past, successive Governments used this re-demarcation as an excuse to delay Elections as there was no consensus on re-demarcation among the political parties. The NPP Government’s preferred position is equal treatment for all citizens without discrimination, a stance that has been welcomed by the ethnic and religious minorities who are relieved not to be subjected to targeting or adverse actions by the Government. However, this emphasis on individual equal rights and non-discrimination, while important and reassuring in the short term, will be insufficient to address the deeper political aspirations that animate Sri Lanka’s plural society. Sri Lanka cannot become Singapore which is run from the centre for the simple reason that it is not a city. It is a land with regions, languages, memories and identities that go far into the past.
Without a satisfactory power-sharing framework that devolves authority in a meaningful manner, the underlying tensions that have driven the ethnic conflict in the past, and even to the point of war, risk resurfacing. The problem is that many in Sri Lanka are unaware of the reason for the PC system, which they deem to be both inefficient and unnecessary in a small country like Sri Lanka. There is also concern that it can be an inducement for separatist thinking in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The delay in conducting the PC Elections, and the Government’s reluctance to expedite them, have encouraged groups who are opposed to the PC system. The Sinhalese nationalist group, the National Joint Committee, has taken the position that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution is “obsolete”.
Persistent identities
The idea that devolution is obsolete ignores global evidence. Identity does not disappear with development or prosperity. The United Kingdom (UK) continues to grapple with the demands of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, nations with their own histories, institutions and political visions. Scotland even came close to voting for independence despite its high standard of living and deep economic links with the rest of the UK. Canada accommodates Quebec through wide-ranging autonomy, its own language rights and political institutions. Belgium operates through structured power sharing between the Flemish and Walloon regions. Spain continues to manage the aspirations of the Basque region and Catalonia. These are not unstable or poorly governed states. They are developed democracies. If identity persists in those contexts, it will certainly persist in Sri Lanka where the memories of region, language and belonging are even older and deeper.
The historical record presented in the Mahavamsa shows that Sri Lanka was not one single undivided land under one authority through all of history. It had regions that were governed separately for long periods. This is part of the political memory of the people. It has also shaped the modern sense of belonging. Sri Lanka is a country with depth and layers of history, with a civilisation that stretches back to the ancient world. Most of all it is home to more than one people who have deep roots in its soil. This is why equal citizenship on its own will not resolve the national question. Equal citizenship is essential. But, in a country with distinct regions and long standing identities, it is not enough. Ethnic and communal identities are very powerful and cannot be erased. It is for this reason that power sharing on a regional basis is needed.
Every Government since the middle of the last Century has had to acknowledge this truth. The Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam (a reference to then Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Tamil leader S.J.V. Chelvanayakam) pact of 1957 was the first official recognition of the need for regional power sharing. This was after the imposition of the Sinhala language on the Tamil-speaking ethnic and religious minorities in 1956, which was well before the Indian Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam entered the scene. All Governments have known the direction in which the solution lies which is why the nationalistic President Mahinda Rajapaksa spoke of the “13th Amendment plus one”. But, they have not been prepared to go forward as statesmen thinking of the future and the best interests of the country. Nationalism and the old fears have come in the way. They have prevented those in authority from taking decisions that could settle the matter and allow the country to move to a new phase of peace and development.
Equal citizenship
The NPP Government is showing that it is ready to address problems that previous Governments were unable or unwilling to do. The increase in salary for plantation workers provided for in the Budget is one example. It recognises the conditions under which those families have lived for generations. But, it is not enough to address the salary issue only. Plantation workers have suffered not only from poverty but also from the legacy of their ethnicity and the political decisions that denied them rights to land and recognition. One million of them were made stateless by a Governmental decision shortly after Independence. Their claim for land to live on, to own and to cultivate is not merely economic. It is also a claim to dignity, belonging and secure roots. The Government needs to recognise this history and find solutions that address the land question and the political marginalisation that has stunted their lives.
Acknowledging the rights of the Malaiyaha Tamil community is the counterpart to regional power sharing in the North and the East. In both cases, the issue is identity, belonging and the right of communities to shape their own future. Regional power sharing in the North and the East cannot be a threat to the unity of the country but it can be the guarantee of unity. They strengthen the idea that Sri Lanka belongs to all its people. A country that includes all its communities in its political and social life is stronger than one that tries to deny the differences that exist. Equal citizenship is not weakened by power sharing.
The NPP Government has the best chance to do what no Government has done before. Its credentials on questions of national identity are strong in the eyes of the people. It also has the numbers in the Parliament that are needed to take decisions that go beyond the usual calculations of political risk. The current paralysis of the PC system is a democratic and constitutional breakdown. Since 2018, there have been no Elections. Centrally appointed Governors run the Provinces. Fiscal powers remain centralised. Local needs are dealt with through Central officials, most of whom are from the majority community and may not feel the pulse of the people whose language they do not speak. These are the outdated political solutions that seek to centralise power that the President needs to overcome. If the Government is serious about equal citizenship, then, it must be equally serious about political power sharing. Only then will the idea of equality become real in practice.
(The writer is the Executive Director of the National Peace Council organisation.)