Video: Unite the country; share the power: Sumanthiran

WEDNESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2013 

It is good that the government’s propaganda has brought back democracy to the North, TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said today at a news conference.

Mr. Sumanthiran congratulated the government for holding an election.

“But holding an election alone will not bring back democracy, it is the first step in a democratic process,” he said.

“Ever since 1956, the Tamil people of the country expected their democratic wish very clearly. They wanted to live within a united country, but adjust the governance structure to a Federal model, but that was not heeded,” he said

“In 1970 at the General Election the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) in their election manifesto clearly asked the Tamil people not to vote for anybody who stood for separation of the country as there were some candidates who asked for the secession of the country,” he said.

“Forty years after, the TNA put forwarded an election manifesto that TNA want a solution within a united and undivided country. As permanent minority it does not mean that TNA will bow down to the majority wishes all the time,” he said. 

He charged that the government was trying to go back and take away what is now in presently in the constitution.

“The government cannot unite the country by keeping the power for one community and say that the country must be united-that will never happen.

“The TNA is willing to live within a united country but with shared powers. It is now up to the government to deliver.(Chaturanga Pradeep and Indika Sri Aravinda)

►WATCH-

Video:

Video by Chaturanga Pradeep

Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu attends Obama's roundtable meeting

[ Wednesday, 25 September 2013, 02:38.48 PM GMT +05:30 ]

At the UN General Assembly, President Obama meets with heads of state and leaders of civil society, multilateral organizations, and the philanthropic community to discuss growing restrictions being placed on civil society organizations (CSOs) worldwide.

The event marks the beginning of a year-long effort to further intensify our work to support and defend civil society from a rising tide of restrictions. September 23, 2013. The Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, was also invited by the White House to participate the meeting, hosted by President Barack Obama.

UXO claims life of 30-year-old man in Jaffna, 2 boys wounded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 September 2013, 23:48 GMT]
A 30-year-old man was killed and two 17-year-old boys were seriously wounded on Tuesday around 10:30 a.m., at former Forward Defence Line in Mukamaalai in Jaffna. Mr Suthaharan Atputharasa, who was driving the tractor, was killed on the spot. The tragic blast comes after the UN office for humanitarian de-mining coordination in Jaffna has been closed down and the remaining humanitarian agencies involved in de-mining are under pressure to wind up their activities before the end of this year. The occupying SL military, which is converting the former High Security Zones (HSZ) into Sinhala Military Zones (SMZ), is in control of the entire process of de-mining. 

The tractor was thrown away in the blast caused by the unexploded ordnance, which is believed to be a pressure activated mine, news sources in Thenmaraadchi said. 

The wounded boys were identified as 17-year-old Suthaharan Kuhanathan and Nirojan Thuraisingam from A’raththi-nakar in Allip-pazhai. 

Four months ago, a Halo Trust worker lost his life in a landmine explosion while he was engaged in de-mining at Mukamaalai.
Assistant Commissioner of Labour arrested

By Premalal Wijerathna-Wednesday, 25 Sep 2013

Officers of the Commission for Investigation of Bribery or Corruption today arrested Assistant Commissioner of Labour, Polonnaruwa District while he was accepting a bribe of Rs. 50,000 from an individual.

Bribery Commission's Media Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police, Somaweera Lokuge said the suspect was arrested by the Bribery Commission officials, at his official residence.

Lokuge further revealed that the suspect was arrested while he was accepting a bribe of Rs. 50,000 from the owner of a private security firm promising him to reduce EPF contributions of his firm in respect of its employees. The suspect is due to be produced in Court this week.

Politics as a family business

Editorial-September 24, 2013, 7:30 pm 

Some people seem to have all the luck. After all, this is Sri Lanka. Out of 23 family members and relatives of ruling party and Opposition politicians in the recent PC polls fray 19 have been returned, as we reported yesterday.

Thankfully, among the noticeable rejects is the nephew of an NWP UPFA provincial councillor who failed to secure nomination because he had forced a female teacher to kneel down in her school. Others who have got returned are not likely to remain in provincial councils for long. They are sure to contest the next general election and some of them may even enter Parliament, which is the Sri Lankan version of Eldorado. For them the provincial councils are only a stepping stone to the national legislature. He who pursues the stag regards not the hare!

The late President Ranasinghe Premadasa once famously declared that he was a servant of the people. But, nobody took him seriously. We have seen valets become masters after elections! Many countries, especially in Asia, have had political families but there is no other land like ours when it comes to the abuse of power and amassing ill-gotten wealth with impunity, and this is actually what attracts so many crooks and their families to politics. In neighbouring India politicians and their family members are at least prosecuted for offences like the 2G Spectrum scam.

Time was when we had only a few political dynasties at the national level to contend with. The concentration of power in the hands of the Bandaranaikes and their relatives became one of the main planks of the UNP platform at the 1977 general election. The issue was so effectively flogged that the UNP succeeded in ousting the Bandaranaike government which was reduced to a few seats in Parliament. But, today, there are hundreds of such families at all levels of politics—national, provincial and even local—living off the fat of the land. Nobody cares to make an issue of it.

As invasive as Yoda Nidikumba (Mimosa pigra) the political families are spreading rapidly and menacingly at the expense of the country and its people. We witnessed how aggressively these clannish politicians and their offspring protect their family interests in the run-up to the recently concluded PC polls in Kurunegala.

Chief Minister-elect Dayasiri Jayasekera was lucky that he had gone through the mill and worked his way through NWP politics painstakingly in a hostile political environment, first as a Pradeshiya Sabha member and then as a parliamentarian with the added advantage of being a popular TV star; he had also developed a thick skin, which is a prerequisite for survival in politics. Else, he would have got crushed like a cockroach under the feet of a powerful minister whose son contested the PC polls from the same party as he.

The situation is more or less similar in other areas as well. Ordinary candidates with a non-political family background who pit themselves against the born-to-rule types and their progeny run the risk of being destroyed politically or even otherwise.

The mushroom-like spread of political dynasties is sure to continue unabated as politics has taken precedence over everything else in this country where anything goes and the masses have taken the abuse of power, thuggery and plunder of national wealth for granted. Some of the political families have already produced third generation politicians!

At this rate the day may not be far off when parliamentary and provincial council sessions become gatherings of the clans. As we see in Jeffrey’s cartoon today the ordinary people will be left with carrots stuck in their mouths.

Economics Of Northern Province And The Way Forward

By Hema Senanayake -September 26, 2013 

Hema Senanayake

For the Northern Province (NP) we have a provincial council now. In 2012, the GDP share of NP is 4% but has the highest provincial GDP growth. In the year 2012 NP’s nominal GDP grew by 25.9%. The nominal GDP means the GDP at current prices and in 2012 the country’s nominal GDP grew by 15.9% whereas the real term GDP adjusted for inflation grew by 6.4%. This GDP growth was before the election of NPC. Therefore, these basic statistics set the annual overall statistical targets that NPC has to achieve with the support of the Central Government. In other words NPC has to ensure higher GDP growth rate than the national average at least for another few years until the province is rebounded economically. People’s expectations are huge and NPC must not make excuses saying that its powers are limited.

Sooner, the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) will swear in the most accomplished Chief Minister in the whole provincial council system. Of course there is a political battle that has to be fought with the Central Government in regard to the powers of NPC. But my view is that the most immediate necessity is to meet the expectations of the people in terms of development in all spears of economic activity.

True, that powers of provincial councils are limited and the Center has to provide the most of funds for provincial councils and now NPC is one of them. If the center does not like the NPC then funds will be limited and funds will come later than needed. This conflict of political interest will possibly have bad economic impact which has already been noticed by the designate Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran. But, Wigneswaran clearly said his council would have dialogues with the Centre to get the benefits for the council. In view of the high expectations of the people, I would suggest Wigneswarant o have a dialogue with the Center in order to make a policy shift, which I describe below in this article, in handling the matters of economics.

Read More

Of Aspirations, Referenda And Realities

By Malinda Seneviratne -September 26, 2013 

Malinda Seneviratne

Politicians and political parties don’t go before the people with a single promise, they offer bags of goodies.  Voters don’t think collectively. Some vote for one promise, others for another.  Typically, also, they vote for one thing and get something that was not promised nor envisaged.  And then there’s the ‘by default’ factor that dominates voter thinking; people vote against parties and candidates and they often go for lesser evils.  Consequently, we get winners and losers, with the former manufacturing ‘mandate’ according to whim and fancy.  So it has been and so it will be, be it local government elections, provincial elections or major national elections.

The focus, naturally, will be on the Northern Provincial Council Elections, being held for the first time.  Given that this is the second time that the Tamil National Alliance goes before the people of the province, the results could be read in terms of gains and losses.  More importantly, this election will be colored also by TNA rhetoric which includes the resurrection of the chauvinistic Vadukkoddai Resolution that painted the unattainable as possible spurring Tamil youth to armed insurrection.  It also all but buried any faith the Sinhalese may have had in Tamil parties like the TULF as decent, reasonable and honest partners in discussions on grievances and aspirations.

For these reasons, a landslide win for the TNA will be read as a vote for Eelam by that party and other intent on carving a separate state as well as spoilers who desire political instability in Sri Lanka.  A lesser result would be read by those opposed to the TNA as evidence of a divided Tamil polity. Read More

Political kith and kin in fray: 19 elected out of 23

By Ranil Dharmasena-September 24, 2013, 7:07 am 

Out of the 23 close relatives of senior politicians, who were in the fray at Saturday’s polls, 19 were elected.

They contested on either UPFA or UNP tickets.

Lands Development Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon’s son Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon secured the highest number of votes from the Matale District while the Minister’s cousin, Thilina Bandara Tennakoon, was elected from the Kandy District.

Deputy Minister Nandimitra Ekanayake’s son Chinthaka was elected from the Matale District. Ekanayake’s brother, former Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake, clinched the second position from the Kandy District from the Alliance.

While Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne’s son, Anuradha Lanka Jayaratne, bagged the highest number of preference votes from the UPFA in the Kandy District, Deputy Minister Jayaratne Herath’s son Piumal Herath, Minister Johnston Fernando’s son Johan Fernando, Minister Salinda Dissanayake’s wife Manjula Dissanayake and Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa’s brother Chandana Yapa were elected from the Kurunegala District for the Alliance.

Deputy Minister Rohana Dissanayake’s brother Parakrama Dissanayake was elected from the Matale District. Minister Dayashritha Tissera’s nephew, Sumal Tissera, was elected from the Puttalam District. Parliamentarian Eric Weerawardena’s father, Ediriweera Weerawardena, won from the Kandy District.

Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s cousin, Ananda Aluthgamage, lost having contested from the Kandy District, but the Minister’s brother-in-law, Ananda Weerasinghe, was elected from the same district.

Ananda Sarath Kumara, former Provincial Council Member, who did not get nominations for forcing a woman teacher to kneel down, had his nephew Nilantha Wimalaweera, contesting, but he too failed to get elected.

Assassinated Minister D. M. Dassanayake’s widow, Indrani, who contested from the Alliance from the Puttalam District also tasted victory.

From the UNP side, Party Chairman Gamini Jayewickreme Perera’s son, Asanka Perera, got elected from the Kurunegala District, while Parliamentarian Wasantha Aluwihare’s brother, Ranjith Aluwihare, was elected from the Matale District. Minister Navin Dissanayake’s brother, Mayantha Dissanayake, too got elected from the UNP from the Kandy District.

A long standing UNP member of the Central Provincial Council and a strong Ranil loyalist Shanthini Kongahage, was defeated this time. She is the wife of Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Germany Sarath Kongahage.

While Minister S. B. Dissanayake’s brother Saliya Bandara Dissanayake, who contested from the Nuwara Eliya District, on the UPFA list, experienced defeat, his other brother Jayalath Bandara Dissanayake, who contested on the UNP ticket, emerged victor in the Kandy District.

Former President the Late D. B. Wijetunga’s son-in-law Lucky Jayawardena was elected from the Kandy District on the UNP ticket.

A dimly lit Sri Lankan affair, in a side street beneath the UN

A dimly lit Sri Lankan affair, in a side street beneath the UN

Wednesday 25 Sep 2013

Snowblog

Last night, in a dimly lit side street a stone’s throw from the towering UN headquarters here in New York, Britain co-hosted a drinks party with Sri Lanka -  a country led by regime accused of the worst war crimes committed this century. Australia joined the fray to render it a tripartite affair.

A Dimly Lit Sri Lankan Affair, In a Side Street Beneath the UN by nelvely

After NPC Elections – Where Does Rajapaksa Stand In The South ?

By Kusal Perera -September 25, 2013  

Kusal Perera

There was plenty written about the NPC elections and the sweeping victory the Northern Tamil people registered at the only election that challenges the authority of centralised power in Colombo. There was hope, joy and caution noted by some on the declared results. Others advised and warned the TNA, as to how they should now behave. In fact across the Palk Straits, “The Hindu”  called the TNA “inexperienced” in a caption for a story on NPC elections. Some  told the TNA they should now learn to work with the Governor appointed by the President, as the elected council have no constitutional right to talk about who the Governor should be. The TNA should not, they said, provoke “unnecessary” (???) suspicion among the Sinhala South.

There had never been such advice, caution or warnings expressed and given free, when Chandrika Kumaranatunge was elected Chief Minister of the Western Province in 1994. She in fact was solid and straight on power sharing and complained during election campaigning that UNP governments have not been devolving power as they should. But not after she was elected President. After her election, she could have easily devolved all powers under the 13 Amendment, but did not. No different was she, to the UNP.

The two provincial council elections held along with the NPC on 21 September, for North-Western and Central Provinces, even if won by the opposition UNP (only  hypothetical), would never demand all due and legitimate powers under the 13th Amendment. They have no political understanding to set up a second tier governing system for the province they represent. UNP is devoid of a political culture that calls for democratic rule. For the UNP, the 13^th Amendment is what gives them a chance to look after provincial party “catchers” who in turn think, they could jump from there to parliamentary politics. So is it with all political parties now. So is it with the JVP too that went on a bloody rampage against PCs in 1987 to 90 period. Read More

TNA is Equal to UPFA

by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

( September 24, 2013, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I write in response to the Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘Northern PC: Lesson To Learn, Landmine To Avoid’ by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka.

To me, as an insider, it is an article by an ‘outsider’ to Northern Sri Lanka. Dr. Jayatilleka confesses as follows:

TNA is Equal to UPFA by nelvely

Time to press the reset button

 September 26, 2013

• 
  

• With the TNA flushed with victory in the north and the President’s popular support reinforced in the south after Saturday’s provincial elections, the time has never been more opportune for the country’s main Tamil party and its ruling coalition to attempt to repair relations and pursue reconciliation

Time to Press the Reset Button by nelvely

Is this the beginning of women’s political representation in the Northern Provincial Council?

Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images

• by Womens Action Network
• - on 09/25/2013 

The Northern Provincial Council Elections has concluded amidst various challenges. While WAN welcomes the conclusion of these elections the need for the full devolution of powers so as to ensure the rights of historically subordinated communities remains.  

Is this the beginning of women’s political representation in the Northern Provincial Council by nelvely

2013 – A Defining Moment for Achieving the MDGs

UNDP and Global leaders urgently call for the continued need to accelerate progress to address widening disparities.

With less than 830 days to go before the MDG target date, now is the time to accelerate progress – not give up.

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 24, 2013

With the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) looming, global leaders are calling for the urgent need to continue the accelerated approach to meet the worldwide targets that have overseen the fastest reduction of poverty in human history.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim co-chaired a High-level Panel today during the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. They said that achieving the MDGs would help address global disparities and lay the foundation for the post-2015 development agenda.

“With less than 830 days to go before the MDG target date, now is the time to accelerate progress – not give up,” said Helen Clark in a speech that underlined the key messages of a forthcoming report by UNDP, Accelerating progress, sustaining results.

“Our efforts must focus on progress for the poorest and most vulnerable people and countries, many of whom have been left behind, despite global progress towards the MDG targets,” she said.

Since the introduction of the MDG framework 13 years ago, significant achievements have been made.

“Today, many nations have achieved what could have been considered a dream in 2000 – cutting in half the number of people living in extreme poverty, eliminating gender disparities in school, expanding access to safe drinking water, and improving living conditions for slum dwellers,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

“But progress on health, sanitation, and primary school completion is at risk. The challenge before us remains large. It is larger than the capabilities of any single institution. It goes beyond the capacities of most governments alone. We need productive partnerships among governments, the private sector, and civil society to accelerate progress.”

Adapting approaches are key to sustainability in the new development age. Bringing sectors and partnerships together now to accelerate progress on the MDGs and build momentum towards a post-2015 agenda will proactively and progressively tackle inequalities, address systemic deficits that retard progress in the longer term, minimize and build resistance to shocks, and “climate-proof” the MDGs and other development goals as these threaten to slow down, or even reverse gains made in the MDGs.

The High-level Panel also hosted heads of state from Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Ghana, Tanzania and Tonga, as well Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“The MDGs have set the stage for stunning improvements in the quality of life for the poorest people in the world. Countries are measuring their progress on the key statistics - how many mothers and children are surviving; how many girls are going to school - and as a result they're making more progress, faster than ever before,” said Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“The UN can help keep this momentum going after 2015 by making sure the next set of global goals is ambitious yet pragmatic, measurable, and focused on the poorest.”

Nine-time Olympic gold medalist and UN Goodwill Ambassador Carl Lewis said that while the MDGs have laid the track for development, closing in on the finish line would require a sustained effort by the international community in this defining moment to eradicate poverty.

USTPAC Hails Tamils’ Landslide Victory in Sri Lanka’s Provincial Vote 

In Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council vote held on Saturday, the Tamil National Alliance defeated the Sri Lanka government alliance securing firm control of the Council. Despite violence and voter intimidation with suffocating military presence, Tamils signal to chart their own destiny. 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) congratulates the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on their overwhelming victory in the Northern Provincial Council election conducted on September 21, 2013. USTPAC also salutes the Tamil and Muslim people who defied the intimidation and violence by the occupying Sri Lankan military forces and voted for their dignity and quest for self-rule.

Reflecting on the mood of the electorate, Mr. E. Saravanapavan, a legislator for the Tamil Alliance stated, “These results show that we want political rights, and not just peanuts from the government,” reported the New York Times. The TNA obtained more than 78% of the votes cast and won every single electoral district, capturing 30 of 38 council seats. 

The TNA election platform clearly articulated the distinctiveness of Tamils as a nation in their traditional homeland of the NorthEast with right to self-determination. It further acknowledged the need for a political solution outside the ambit of the unitary constitution and the flawed 13th Amendment. It also called for an independent international investigation into the war crimes and mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people.

Commenting on the election results, USTPAC President Dr. Elias Jeyarajah said, “Tamils have sent the message loud and clear to the world. Their quest for dignity and self-rule trumps the process of reconciliation through infrastructure reconstruction only, the model touted by the Sri Lankan state. ” “Their votes for TNA despite threats of withholding development assistance by the Sri Lankan government affirms the universal truth that development is not a substitute for fundamental freedoms,” added Jeyarajah. 

USTPAC appreciates the contribution by the International Community including the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for their positive influence in convincing Sri Lanka to allow this vote to take place. “We recognize that the Government of Sri Lanka took cognizance of the International Community’s and the UNHRC’s counsel and resisted calls from extreme elements to weaken the Council or scrap the election.  The Government of Sri Lanka should heed to the Tamil people’s voice and help the Council to implement the mandate given to their elected representatives,” said Jeyarajah.

 Tamil Americans convey their best wishes to the TNA-led Northern Provincial Council to provide good governance, engage in total rehabilitation of the war-afflicted population, resolve land issues, effect demilitarization and create conducive environment for political negotiations. The Sri Lankan Government can help the process by appointing without delay a civilian Governor to the Northern Province in consultation with the Tamil National Alliance. 

USTPAC reiterates the need for accountability through credible international investigation as the path for true reconciliation, and calls on the International Community to recognize the Tamil people’s democratic voice and support them to achieve their legitimate aspirations.

Contact: www.ustpac.org or elias jey at 202 595 3123 - See more at: http://www.ereleases.com/pr/ustpac-hails-tamils-landslide-victory-sri-lankas-provincial-vote-173729#sthash.WO66TJnk.dpuf

Vote reveals Sri Lanka’s unavoidable truth: Other voices must be heard

A Sri Lankan man cycles with a boy a day after the northern provincial council election in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013. A former political proxy for Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil Tiger rebels swept the country's northern provincial election, according to results released Sunday, in what is seen as a resounding call for wider regional autonomy in areas ravaged by a quarter century of civil war.
(Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press)

The results are in for the provincial election in Sri Lanka’s northern most province, the area around Jaffna, and they are clear as a bell: nearly 80 per cent of voters, despite much evidence of harassment, cast their ballots for the Tamil National Alliance.

The TNA has long been a parliamentary voice for Tamil nationalism, with a close, but complex, relationship to the LTTE and the military struggle. When the fighting was on, it was often hard to see much light between the Tigers and the parliamentarians. With the crushing defeat of the LTTE in May of 2009, more Tamil leaders inside Sri Lanka talked publicly of the need to “move on” and “deal with the realities on the ground.”

With this decisive vote, choices will have to be made on all sides, recognizing that the current Sri Lankan constitution grants few powers to provincial councils, and that the leaders and organization that really run the country at the moment, the Rajapaksa family and the army, have never really embraced the plural and diverse nature of the country. The powers that are supposed to exist outside the reach of central control are there on paper, and not in reality. An election does not make a democracy on its own, and an election in the northern region hardly means that Sri Lanka has turned a corner.

After May, 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his brothers and the army have not exactly chosen the path of truth and reconciliation. Triumphalism would be more like it, and it is both the denial of the brutality of the end of the war and a complete failure to embrace diversity and a respect for human rights that has made the current government so controversial.

One suspects that neither the government nor the Tamil National Alliance expected such a clear result. But whether it changes anything remains to be seen. Jaffna and the regions around it remain under military occupation. The central government is reported to be offering land to Sinhalese soldiers in the north, which will only exacerbate the sense that ethnic cleansing is only a matter of time.

For many in the majority, it will seem the ultimate insult that their military victory has not brought worldwide approval and humble acceptance from the Tamil community that the path to self-determination was some kind of terrible mistake.

But life’s not like that. The aspiration among Tamils for recognition and respect began decades ago, and did not die on the beach where Velupillai Prebhakaran and his supporters were killed. This election result confirms it, and means that thinking about devolution and power sharing has to start again. It is the unavoidable question at the heart of Sri Lankan politics, and the military detour after the collapse of the cease-fire in 2006 did nothing to resolve it. There are no doubt many in Sri Lanka – and other parts of the world – who find the return of pluralism and alternative voices a threat to the simplicity of majority rule. But simple answers are never good ones when it comes to governing complex societies.

Sri Lanka has a Buddhist, Sinhala speaking majority. But it also has significant Hindu, Christian, and Muslim minorities, most of who speak Tamil as their first language. And the political solidarity shown in the heartland of this complex community, even so much destruction and defeat, is a clear message to the Sri Lankan government and the world.

Bob Rae is a former member of Parliament and former premier of Ontario. From 1999 to 2006, he served as chairman of the Forum of Federations and was an adviser to the Sri Lankan peace process.

India urges Sri Lanka to share power with Tamils after poll

Sep 25, 2013 

COLOMBO (AFP) - India urged Sri Lanka on Wednesday to share political power with ethnic minority Tamils after their victory in local council elections, in a bid for "genuine reconciliation" after a decades-long war.

The opposition Tamil alliance swept to victory at the weekend in the first regional council elections in the island's battle-scarred north.

The vote was welcomed internationally as an initial step towards reconciliation between majority Sinhalese and Tamils after the war.

But the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse has said it wants to reduce the powers of the council - including over land issues and policing - raising concerns about whether the alliance will have any real control in the region.

Testing time for Jaffna, Colombo

September 24, 2013

Sri Lanka has crossed an important milestone toward national reconciliation with the holding of elections to its Northern provincial council. Held more than four years after the war against the LTTE ended, and for the first time since the 1988 election for the short-lived North-Eastern Provincial Council, the September 21 vote gives the war-ravaged North its first-ever democratic political set up that will share governance with the centre. For the Tamil-majority province that was first under the thumb of the LTTE, then the military, and later run by a governor appointed by Colombo, this is the single biggest step towards a political settlement of the conflict. As expected, the Tamil National Alliance swept the election. It won 30 out of 38 seats in the council, leaving no doubt about who represents the Tamils. Sri Lanka’s ruling United Progressive Front Alliance, which fielded candidates of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, won only seven seats despite having poured in huge amounts of money into infrastructure building in the North, evidence that the Tamils do not view this development agenda as their own. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress won a single seat.

The huge turnout conveyed its own message about the importance of this election for the voters. The dire predictions that the Sri Lanka Army would use its overwhelming presence in the province to influence the outcome of the election proved incorrect; senior ministers in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cabinet have correctly described the election and the TNA win as a victory for democracy, and expressed their readiness to work with the new set-up in the North. The real test, though, begins now. The government must respect the TNA’s mandate. It should not resist the power-sharing with the Council that is provided under the 13th Amendment, and must begin to seriously consider progressive devolution on police and land. It would also do well to rethink its project on scrapping or diluting the constitutional provision for devolution. For its part, the TNA must avoid the urge to over-interpret its mandate. Steering clear of the extreme nationalist pronouncements by Tamil diaspora organisations, it has made a good start by stating that its victory represents the wish of the people for adequate self-rule within a united and undivided Sri Lanka. The massive preferential mandate for its chief ministerial candidate, C.V. Wigneswaran, who made clear his moderate views and desire for a constructive partnership with Colombo, is a clear sign that the people of Northern Sri Lanka are with him.