Eastern Province Wants Full Implementation Of 13A

October 2, 2013 

The Eastern Provincial Council yesterday passed a dramatic resolution during its sessions last afternoon, calling for the full implementation of the 13th amendment.

Chief Minister Najeeb A Majeed with the President and former CM

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.