History of promises on language issue; politicians & 13A

President J.R. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signing the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord

“Politicians promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers.”-- Khrushchev :Premier of Russia-1958/1964
Have you heard of the proverb “Hingannage Thuwale” (Beggar’s Wound)? It describes a beggar’s ever-festering wound, which he never wants to heal because it sustains his livelihood.

During a visit to the Northern Province, Sajith Premadasa, while opening the 225th computerised classroom in the North under his ‘Sakwala’ programme, made a significant declaration to fully implement the 13th Amendment. His initiative to open ‘Smart Classrooms’ in backward schools is unprecedented for an Opposition leader and is indeed commendable, regardless of the funding source, whether it be casino tycoons or otherwise. 

Sajith speaking to the Tamil community announced his intention to address the grievances and aspirations of the Tamils. “Unlike some Sinhala politicians who say one thing in the North and something else in the South,” he said, “I would repeat this announcement in the rest of the provinces as well.” However, he was cautious not to confirm this pledge in the South.

Not only Sajith and Anura, every leader in the past, made this promise in Jaffna. Back home they give into sections of Sangha and other racist elements. The 13th Amendment, an outcome of the Indo-Lanka Accord signed in July 1987 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayewardene; could easily be compared to the “Beggar’s Wound.” This accord aimed to resolve Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict by establishing Provincial Councils, which needs to be implemented in full, and only Ranil can do it!

The 13th Amendment passed in 1987, which mandates a measure of power devolution to the provincial councils established to govern the island’s nine provinces. Following  Sajith’s groundbreaking declaration, JVP leader Anura Kumara arrived in Jaffna within 24 hours to present his version of the 13th Amendment. Having ruled out fielding their own candidate, the TNA, in line with their decision last week to hold talks with all three candidates before deciding whom to support, duly auditioned Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of JVP/NPP for the prospective role.

Every government over the 37 years conveniently ignored the clauses in the Amendment on the devolution of Police and land powers to the provinces.

Political campaign manifestos frequently create unease, as politicians make temporary promises aimed at winning voter support during each election cycle. In doing so, they raise public expectations and foster false perceptions that communities will receive the promised services after the election. Some promises are ideological and difficult to quantify, while others are more straight and accountable. 

Sir John Kotelawala in Jaffna in 1956 Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala [1953-1956] visited Jaffna before the April 1956 election. As Isaac T Kulendran put it [DM-5/09/19] “Sir John Kotelawala came to Jaffna in 1955, where he made his famous speech opening his lines with “I’ll give you parity of status”. However, at the Kurunegala sessions of the United National Party, held a month later, the party changed its policy to Sinhala Only.’

This switch over to Sinhala only was to match Bandaranaike’s language policy; which enticed the latter to go a step further and change his slogan to, ‘Sinhala only in 24 hours’. Had the UNP stuck by Sir John’s stance, the history of Sri Lanka would have been different. The rest, as they say, is history. 

‘Banda-Chelva Pact’

The agreement “Banda-Chelva Pact” signed by Prime Minister Bandaranaike and S.J.V. Chelvanayagam in 1957 was a positive factor that diluted the harmful effects of the ‘Sinhala Only’ concept, adopted by SWRD Bandaranaike, the leader of the MEP-SLFP Government, who won by arousing racial sentiments in 1956. Sinhala /Buddhist extremists in the Government and the Buddhist clergy vehemently opposed the BC Pact; JRJ being entrusted with the task to reviving the UNP, called the agreement as an end to the Sinhala nation, he addressed several meetings in Colombo and the suburbs and wrote newspaper articles too. On October 3, 1957, the United National Party’s De facto leader organised a protest march from Colombo to Kandy. The march contributed adversely to ethnic harmony in the Island.  Ranasinghe Premadasa, then a junior in the party joined the march from Grandpass amidst stone pelting by supporters of the SLFP MP, MS Themis and port workers. 

 “…at Imbulgoda junction the procession was greeted with a shower of stones from both sides of the road on the hill…there were about one hundred people led by S D Bandaranaike squatting on the road.  J R Jayewardene and  S D Bandaranaike were advised to be peaceful and not to show any violence. The UNP procession also sat down on the road…” [Extract -ASP, D.S. Thambiah’s Police Report on the incident—5/10/57: Courtesy Pres. Arch. MSS File 301]

Campaign assurances are often idealised visions constructed to win votes. Once the votes are counted, the campaign ends, power gained and promises are abandoned. Machiavelli famously said, “The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.” Therefore the politically illiterate voters, [over 90% who voted for Sirisena and Gota] when a candidate promises to turn our land into a paradise,be extremely skeptical!

Paragraph 1.4 of the Accord stated: “The Northern and the Eastern provinces have been areas of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking peoples, who have at all times hitherto lived together in this territory with other ethnic groups.” President Jayewardene’s regulations in September 1988 waived the two conditions imposed by the Provincial Council Act. Successive presidents extended these regulations annually. The provisions relating to police and land have never been implemented. Initially, on September 18, 1988, JRJ merged the northern and eastern provinces, creating the North-Eastern Provincial Council.

On October 16, 2006, the Supreme Court heard a fundamental rights petition filed by the JVP seeking to de-merge the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void, having no legal effect. Consequently, the North-Eastern Province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on the same day. The 23-page judgment reasoned that the merger was carried out by President JR Jayewardene under Emergency Regulations, despite neither of the conditions specified in Section 31(1) (b) of the Provincial Councils Act No. 42 of 1987 being met. The court observed that the merger exceeded the powers vested in the President and that only Parliament had the authority to decide on such a matter.

Promise tracking is not a major task in this digital era. In some countries, civil society groups have worked out an app to monitor the progress in the implementation of the promises.  Or civil society can pressurise the next government to pass legislation to set up a commission, before which every party contesting a presidential, parliamentary or provincial election must appear to present its promises and explain how it will find the money to implement the promises without widening the budget deficit beyond a set limit defined by a parliamentary Act. 
Candidates and parties should be allowed to include their promises in their manifestos only after approval is obtained from the legally constituted commission consisting of top economists.  

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