Danger Of Ditching Devolution For Political Reasons
Jehan Perera
The government has apparently had second thoughts about abolishing the 13th Amendment that deals with devolution of power to the provinces. Its spokespersons now say that such an action is not contemplated at the present time. They even say that the government is considering how to go ahead with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s war time promises of a political solution that is based on “13th Amendment Plus”. Whatever the President’s enigmatic statement may mean the government’s turnaround is significant. Just a few weeks ago, some of its top leaders were making statements that were very critical of the 13th Amendment and urging its abolition. However, the government’s reversal is positive to the extent that it gives some breathing space for stability to return to the deterioration that has been taking place in inter-ethnic political relations.
The most immediate justification for abolishing the 13th Amendment has come from a new recognition of its legal potency. The government has become used to using its massive 2/3 majority in Parliament to push its legislation through all democratic and legal obstacles. However, it now finds the 13th Amendment being utilized by opposition parties and civic watchdog groups to challenge the Divineguma bill that the government has presented to Parliament. The government is placing much emphasis on turning this into law as it will be greatly advantageous to itself politically. Not only will the Divineguma law give the government virtually unfettered access to local level funding, and unify the work of at least five government ministries at the community level. It also gives pension rights to large numbers of persons who are working for the government but not as regular public administrators. They would be a formidable asset to the government at future elections in terms of their ability to do grassroots level campaigning that is outside of the customary administrative regulations that outlaw partisan political activism.
The legal challenge to the Divineguma Bill has come primarily from its potential to erode the powers given to the Provincial Councils in terms of the 13th Amendment. The proposed law intrudes into areas that have been reserved for the Provincial Councils. On the one hand, many of the powers vested in the provincial councils by the 13th Amendment have been non-functional due to the lack of economic resources and non-devolution of those powers to the provincial councils. Examples would be the central government taking back powers over local level business taxation and the continuing non-devolution of even limited police and land powers. However, the concern of the government is that the 13th Amendment potentially vests these powers with the Provincial Councils, and an effective provincial administration can indeed demand them.
