Gota opposes  NPC polls

By Shamindra Ferdinando-May 23, 2013

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday warned the government of dire consequences in case the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won the first northern provincial council election.

The Defence Secretary was responding to a statement attributed to Petroleum Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, at Wednesday’s post-cabinet media briefing, that the election would be held in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Minister Yapa ruled out the possibility of diluting the 13th Amendment before the election.

Asked whether he would publicly campaign against the decision, the Gajaba Regiment veteran said: "As the Secretary, Ministry of Defence, my responsibility is to warn the government of the grave repercussions of empowering a hostile provincial administration with land and police powers. Police powers in the hands of those still pursuing a separatist agenda can pose a severe threat to national security."

The Defence Secretary said that the government should carefully examine the 13th Amendment to the Constitution without succumbing to international and domestic pressure. Declining to comment on the

SLFP-led UPFA being divided on the issue with some constituents, the National Freedom Front and the Jathika Hela Urumaya voicing strong opposition to the proposed polls, the Defence Secretary said that the northern provincial administration could pursue the eelam project.

Responding to a query, the outspoken official said that he accepted the need to hold the northern provincial council election. "But having paid a heavy price in the battlefield to eradicate the LTTE, it would be foolish on our part to create conditions for a new war," the Defence Secretary said. "I cannot impose my will on the political establishment. But, I intend to tell those who still consider the 13th Amendment as panacea for all our ills, it’ll be the primary cause for another conflict," he said.

Tajapaksa that the government should immediately launch a wide ranging discussion on the 13th Amendment. "Let there be an open discussion on the issue. The legal fraternity can also examine it," the official said.

Devolution of police and land powers meant that the Northern Province comprising the districts of Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Mannar and Kilinochchi could pose a major security challenge, the Defence Secretary said. A hostile administration could interfere with anti-terrorism investigations undertaken by the government as well as positioning of personnel in the northern region, he said.

Had the LTTE accepted the Indo-Lanka Accord (ILA) it could have had easily achieved eelam, the Defence Secretary said. Perhaps the LTTE, at that time, had failed to realize the 13th Amendment introduced in accordance with the ILA met its demand for a separate administration. Due to its arrogance and over confidence in military capability, the LTTE provoked the Indian Army to declare war on them in October 1987, the Defence Secretary said.

Gotabhaya statement reconfirms emptiness in PC model

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 May 2013, 11:31 GMT]
While New Delhi and Washington harp on either the 13th Amendment or holding Northern Provincial Elections (NPC) as solutions to the national question in the island of Sri Lanka, a statement coming from SL presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa reconfirms the unworkable nature of the Provincial Council (PC) model in a unitary constitution of the Sinhala state, Tamil political observers in the island said. Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was warning the government of his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa that giving police and land powers to the provinces meant that the Northern Province comprising the districts of Jaffna, Mullaiththeevu, Vavuniyaa, Mannaar and Ki'linochchi could pose a ‘major security challenge’, reported the Island on Thursday. 

If even the police and land powers to the provincial councils that are already there in the 13th Amendment cannot be implemented, how could ‘lasting solutions’ could be arrived at through the unitary constitution of the Sri Lankan state, the observers further commented. 

"I cannot impose my will on the political establishment. But, I intend to tell those who still consider the 13th Amendment as panacea for all our ills, it’ll be the primary cause for another conflict," Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakasa, was quoted by the The Island as saying. 

Gotabhaya was responding on Thursday to a statement attributed to SL minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa on Wednesday, when the SL minister ruled out the possibility of ‘diluting the 13th Amendment’ before the elections to the NPC. 

Already, 6 months ago, the Colombo-based newspaper said, “Gotabhaya Rajapaksa likened the 13th Amendment to the Norway arranged Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) finalized in Feb 2002.”

Paraphrasing Gotabhaya as saying that the 13th Amendment was nothing but an impediment to the post-war development process, the paper on 13 October, 2012, quoted him as saying that "[t]he 13th Amendment and the CFA didn’t serve the people of Sri Lanka. Instead, they facilitated interests of various other parties, including the LTTE. Interestingly both supported the separatist cause,” The Island quoted the SL presidential sibling as saying.

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