NPC unanimously adopts Resolution on Constitutional Reforms

The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) yesterday unanimously adopted the Resolution on Constitutional Reforms which highlighted the need of a federal solution to the national question. The Resolution was presented to the Council by NPC Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran on April 7 proposing a federal solution that exceeds the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. It was debated for two days on April 12 and yesterday, and was passed without any amendments. Nineteen members of the Council, including two Opposition members, had been present at the time of the adoption of the Resolution.

The Resolution is to be handed over to Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan on April 30 at the Public Library premises in Jaffna. It is also to be handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. Wigneswaran opening the debate yesterday said they do not wish to divide the country, adding that what they want is a federal mechanism within an undivided country. He rejected the claims in the South that they were trying to divide the country, while stressing that this could be the last opportunity before the country to work out an agreeable solution to the national question. The Chief Minister said if a solution on the federal lines were not agreed upon, the situation in the country could further deteriorate. “Over the past five years we have worked towards a harmonious country. However, the problems of the Tamil people in the North are still lingering. There are Tamil prisoners still languishing in prisons, and there is yet no information on missing persons. About 150,000 military personnel are still present in the North. It hinders the normal life of the people. We need to find a permanent solution to our problems through the proposed Constitutional reforms. This Resolution is to cater to that purpose,” he said. The Resolution passed yesterday proposed to set up two states in the country, one by merging the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the other by merging the seven other provinces. A member of the NPC had asked for an amendment to this proposal, stating it could send out a wrong impression to the people in the South. However, later the NPC had agreed to pass it without amendments. The Resolution also proposed to declare Muslim majority districts within the Eastern Province as an autonomous region, and a similar autonomous region for the estate community in the upcountry. The debate on the Resolution was held from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. yesterday presided by its Chairman C.V. K.Sivagnanam.