Colombo's main political parties agree to redefine unitary state to near-federal

Colombo's main political parties agree to redefine unitary state to near-federal
ASHWANI TALWAR

COLOMBO, JUNE 30: Virtually embracing the idea of federalism, the country's two major political groupings have agreed to change the definition of the Sri Lankan state.

In a landmark agreement, the ruling People's Alliance (PA) and the main opposition, United National Party (UNP), decided on constitutional reforms which would define the Sri Lankan Republic as consisting of ``the Centre and Regions''.

The current Constitution spells Sri Lanka out as a `unitary'' state. Depending on how it is implemented, the agreement could form the basis of constitutional reforms which could turn Sri Lanka close to a federal republic.

Soon after coming to power in 1994, President Chandrika Kumaratunga proposed constitutional reforms which, among other things, aimed to devolve powers to the `regions' -- including the Tamil-dominated North and East. But the proposals needed the backing of the UNP to be passed in Parliament. In recent days, the two sides had agreed `in principle' to the setting up of an interim council in the North and East, after the two provinces are temporarily merged pending a referendum.

Though details are yet to be worked out and a series of road-blocks remain, the current development is significant. It spells out in black-and-white -- in the form of a joint communique announced through a press release from the Presidential Secretariat - a formal PA-UNP commitment.

The statement said the two sides had agreed to the ``nature of the State''.

It said: ``The formulation that was agreed upon recognises the fact that the Republic consists of the Centre and Regions, that the legislature and the executive powers of the Republic are distributed between the Centre and the regions and that the unity and the territorial integrity of the republic is maintained whilst devolving powers to the region.''

However, federalism, still a politically-sensitive term in Sri Lanka, was not used anywhere in the statement.

The agreement was reached at a recent meeting between the two delegations, headed by President Kumaratunga and Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The `deadline' set by Kumaratunga for concluding PA-UNP talks expired on June 30, when another meeting was scheduled. Each clause in the deceptively short `formulation' is a potential sticking-point. The extent of devolution would be crucial, though the two sides have reached a broad understanding on it.

In any case, the PA-UNP agreement represents a `southern' consensus. Next, it has to be endorsed by moderate Tamil parties who have been simultaneously holding negotations with the PA delegation on the proposed devolution package.

And nothing on the ground is going to change fast unless the Tamil Tigers are brought into the picture. So far, the LTTE could say, with some justification, that there was no point in discussing the devolution proposals when even the southern parties had not decided what they could offer to the Tamils.

One final roadblock - which no one seems to be talking much about at this early stage - would remain even if constitutional reforms are passed by Parliament. The new Constitution would have to ratified through a referendum.

The joint communique also mentioned other elements of a draft constitutional reforms package on which the two sides have agreed. It confirmed an agreement on setting up an election commission. A sub-committee is still discussing the idea of independent commissions for judicial and public services.

They also agreed on ``safeguards for the minorities'' -- meaning the Muslims in the eastern province --- within a Tamil-dominated North-East. The safeguards were not spelled out, but there has been talk of reserving places for Muslims in the interim council.

The final decision was taken on the basis of a UNP working paper on the ``nature'' of the State. Reports said the UNP paper had specified tht no regional council could advocate separation from the republic. Indian officials could expect a briefing of sorts on the PA-UNP agreement from Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solhiem, who ended his Colombo visit on Thursday and was heading for Delhi.

By chance or design, the release of the joint communique coincided with the President's 55th birthday. The Presidential Secretariat had said she wanted no presents or flowers. Instead well-wishers could send donations to a fund for soldiers.

In the fighting, meanwhile, the military today reported 13 dead. Eleven of them were militants killed in separate skirmishes in the Jaffna peninsula. In the East, Tamil Tigers killed two members of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO). TELO cadres help military fight the LTTE.