Defending 13th Amendment: What Does It Mean?
Sumanasiri Liyanage
At the moment, it appears that the forces seeking dilution of the 13thAmendment are in retreat due to two main reasons. First, it is sure that such a proposal cannot gain the necessary two-third majority in the Parliament because of the opposition of the left parties in the UPFA, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, rebel group of the SLFP. Ceylon Workers Congress and independent Tamil MPs representing the estate areas would vote against the new amendment. Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara in a press conference held in his ministry has warned the government that he would resign from his ministerial position had the government taken steps to abolish the provincial council system that came into operation in 1987. Secondly, India has warned that Indo-Sri Lanka Accord is an international agreement so that it cannot be breached unilaterally. Furthermore, Indian Foreign Minister, Salman Khurshid, has made it clear to MinisterBasil Rajapaksa that the fully implement the provisions of 13th Amendment and to go beyond are imperative in achieving national integration. He also warned Sri Lanka not to do anything to dilute the provisions of the 13th Amendment. (The Island, July 6) In 1987 following the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord sign by Prime Minister of India, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, and President J R Jayawardene, for the first time in post-colonial Sri Lanka a two-tier system of 