D.E.W. drums up support for 13th Amendment

December 14, 2012 

If the President allows repealing the 13th Amendment, a completely new situation will emerge and there won’t be peace in the country, asserts Senior Minister of Human Resources D.E.W. Gunasekara.

Gunasekara, General Secretary of the Communist Party, says the ongoing campaign to revoke the 13th Amendment by certain Government members calls for fear. He stresses that he cannot allow the extremists to take the upper hand by keeping quiet anymore.
Gunasekara also points out that it is saddening that the historic opportunity that has been offered to bring a solution is still not forthcoming. Gunasekara also emphasised that until the present political culture changes, the best is not to distribute Police powers to the electorate or provinces.
Following are excerpts from an interview:

Q: It was reported that a new alliance was formed to protect the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. What is this alliance? Who are the members?

A: There is an ongoing campaign by certain Government MPs to repeal the 13th Amendment. All the parties which supported the 13th Amendment and the parties which continue to support it had a discussion with us.

We agreed that without keeping quiet we must intervene to counter this campaign to repeal the 13th Amendment. This meeting was held in Parliament. There were eight parties: the Communist Party, Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) led by Douglas Devananda, Ceylon Workers Congress led by R. Thondaman, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress led by Rauf Hakeem, Democratic People’s Front led by Mano Ganeshan, Lanka Samasamaja Party (LSSP) led by Tissa Vitarana, Democratic Left Front led by Vasudeva Nanayakkara, and National Congress led by A.L.M. Athaullah. In addition there were SLFP ministers as well. Rajitha Senarathna, Athauda Senevirathne, Dilan Perera and Reginald Cooray were also present at the discussion.
We also believe that the 13th Amendment is not a fully-fledged one. Especially the concurrent list leads to conflicts. But we cannot allow it to be repealed until an alternative is provided.

Senior Minister of Human Resources D.E.W. Gunasekara

At the meeting we took two decisions; to counter the ongoing campaign to repeal the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and to call upon the TNA to take part in the Parliamentary Select Committee to evolve a political solution.
We have also drafted a letter to the President expressing our views. We wrote to the President that there is a campaign going on by certain members of the Government to repeal the 13th Amendment.

Q: Why do all these parties need to get together to protect the 13th Amendment?

A: Supposing they induce a resolution, there should be a two-thirds majority. We can’t allow that to be passed. This is why we wanted to get together.

Q: You have said that nearly 30 MPs would act as a front to pre-empt any attempt to repeal the 13th Amendment. Do you think the number is strong enough to carry out this task?

A: By the time I left the meeting 31 MPs had pledged their support. I think 12 MPs is enough to stop this being passed by two-thirds majority.

Q: Do you believe there are more MPs in the Government who are willing to support your cause?                                                                   Read more..