Govt. not showing interest in implementation of 13th Amendment: UNP

24 January 2012 07:03 am Views - 3885

The main opposition UNP today said there is no point in discussing devolving land and police powers to the provinces as the government had not shown an interest in the full implementation of the 13th Amendment.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake who expressed these sentiments at a news conference said it would be more appropriate to go for a new system of devolution in such a situation. 

He said the government should however come up with a clear stand and present a solution to Parliament. 

Mr. Attanayake said his party is willing to play a role in the process as well by coming up with its suggestions and working jointly on a political solution. 

However Mr. Attanayake explained that there is a provision for devolving land and police powers to the provincial councils in the Constitution. He said it is something which can be implemented easily if the government is interested. “The issue is that there is no interest on the part of the government in finding a political solution,” he said. 

The UNP General Secretary therefore questioned the purpose of the ongoing talks with the TNA and appointing a Parliamentary select committee. He charged that the select committee if appointed would suffer the same fate of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) given the government’s attitude. Mr. Attanayake recalled that the proposals made by the APRC had been thrown to the dustbin by the government.  (Yohan Perera)