Despite having dealt with the war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government led armed forces almost 1.5 decades ago, beggar’s wound - the debates on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution has become, does not show promising signs of getting resolved anytime soon. Politicians from the North and the East want the 13th Amendment,which has remained a part of the country’s Constitution for a considerable period of time,to be enforced in its entirety, while successive Governments have remained skeptical about it over alleged national security related concerns. 

This stale and unending debate came to the surface this week, as President and National Policies Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, during a meeting with politicians from the North and the East, claimed that he is ready to enforce the 13th Amendment but with the exception of the provisions pertaining to Police powers. In response to the Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian, President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran’s statement that the President’s offer is tantamount to Sri Lanka, or the Government, going back on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s joint statements with India that the 13th Amendment would be enforced in full with no exceptions and would build upon it to achieve the meaningful devolution of power, Wickremesinghe stated that he is not ‘Ranil Rajapaksa’ and that he does not wish to implement the promises given by Rajapaksa.

While this part of the discussion relating to withholding Police powers has attracted public attention, the overall discussion on the 13th Amendment has not evolved as it should since the end of the war and it has resulted in this discussion ending up a damp squib over and over again. It is perhaps time for the two main parties of this discussion to rethink their approach and stance.

The North and East based politicians should understand that national security related concerns, at least those dressed up as such, are quite capable of dominating almost all discussions on the 13th Amendment, and that their approach to gaining any right or freedom that they think the North and East should be entitled to must therefore evolve, at least after so many discussions with successive Governments that did not bear fruit. One of the simplest actions that they can opt for, if that has not been utilised yet, is seeking the assistance of the country’s judicial system. If a certain segment of the existing Constitution, which is the country’s prime law that outweighs all other laws, is not being enforced as per successive Governments one sided decisions, that does not include the public’s opinion, at least officially, the North and East based politicians could take the matter to the apex, superior Courts in the form of a Fundamental Rights matter or a writ. Although North and East based politicians’ concerns are largely portrayed as the stance of the North and East based people, or of the Tamil community as referred to in general, that is not entirely true, as various self proclaimed representatives of the Tamil community hold different opinions about what they are seeking for the Tamil community. Their demands, which arose from time to time during the past few decades, range from a complete rejection of the 13th Amendment to constitutional reforms that go way beyond the 13th Amendment. In addition, ordinary North and East based people, some of whom show no regard for the 13th Amendment, hold a considerably different opinion about what they want, which, at times, is completely divergent from what the Tamil politicians demand. In that context, there is a pressing need for consensus among the North and East based politicians and the people.

On the other hand, the Government too has to figure out and come to a consensus regarding what it wants to and can do. While President Wickremesinghe claims that he is willing to support the enforcement of the 13th Amendment with the exception of Police powers, the governing Sri Lanka Podujana Permauna (SLPP) Members beg to differ. During the past week, certain SLPP members and ardent supporters of the SLPP made statements to the effect that President Wickremesinghe has no moral right to promise the complete enforcement of the 13th Amendment, even if that does not include Police powers, because President Wickremesinghe is merely completing the tenure of deposed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who did not promise such an implementation of the 13th Amendment. Their differing opinions is something that President Wickremesinghe has to deal with, if he is to implement his proposal regarding the 13th Amendment , because his plan cannot see the light of day without the SLPP’s support that holds the majority power in the Parliament. 

In this context, both the parties have a responsibility that they should take seriously for the benefit of what they believe in or represent. That is, being flexible and prudent. Both the Government and the North and East based politicians need to come to terms with the reality that in order to see some sort of end to this issue, even if it cannot be a permanent one, they have to take the other party’s  concerns into account, and incorporate it in their approach. Hardline stances have proven to be fruitless, and that is why we are in this situation as a country even 1.5 decades after the war, and that is a reality that should receive more attention.

In fact, the discussion revolving around Police powers, which directly and indirectly involves a considerable share of the opinions of India and of the South based nationalistic, pro-Government groups, need to be more realistic and logical. Even if Police powers were given via the full enforcement of the 13th Amendment, the Governors of the Northern and Eastern Provinces, who are direct representatives of the President, will have significant powers over the Police in those Provinces. In addition, even though Provincial Councils (PCs) have certain powers to form laws that may affect the roles and responsibilities of the Police in those Provinces, the Central Government’s powers override the powers of PCs. More importantly, the President, as the Executive, will still have Executive powers pertaining to emergency laws, among other laws, which he/she can use at his will in the event the Police in the North and the East start to operate in an unlawful manner. In this context, the main question that arises is what the Government fears. Apart from isolated incidents that suggest that pro-LTTE figures may be attempting to keep alive the legacy of the now largely militarily defunct LTTE, overall, there are no reported organised attempts of attempting to revive the LTTE and the incidents that are reported from South India, India is on top of, in terms of nipping the same in the bud, while the ideology of a separate State based on self determination is only alive in the powerful lobby in the West’s human rights forums. 

At the end of the day, the people’s opinion should prevail. That does not mean the majority of the population’s stance, but every community’s stance. That is an arduous task. But, that is the duty of the public representatives.