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CPA Devolution in the Northern Province

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CPA Devolution in the Northern Province A POLICY BRIEF DEVOLUTION IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCE: SEPTEMBER 2013 – FEBRUARY 2015 LUWIE GANESHATHASAN & MICHAEL MENDIS CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES MARCH 2015 ! The! Centre! for! Policy! Alternatives! (CPA)! is! an! independent,! non9partisan! organization! that! focuses!primarily!on!issues!of!governance!and!con>lict!resolution.!Formed!in!1996!in!the!>irm! belief! that! the! vital! contribution! of! civil! society! to! the! public! policy! debate! is! in! need! of! strengthening,!CPA!is!committed!to!programmes!of!research!and!advocacy!through!which!public! policy!is!critiqued,!alternatives!identi>ied!and!disseminated.!! Address! :! 24/2!28th!Lane,!off!Flower!Road,!Colombo!7,!Sri!Lanka! Telephone! :!! +94!(11)!2565304/5/6! Fax! ! :! +94!(11)!4714460! Web!! ! :! www.cpalanka.org! Facebook! :! www.facebook.com/cpasl! Twitter!! :! www.twitter.com/cpasl!|!@cpasl!! Email! ! :! [email protected]! Acknowledgements. This!policy!brief!is!based!on!desk!and!>ield!research!conducted!by!CPA!from!November!2014!to! February!2015.!The!principle!authors!of!the!present!policy!brief!are!Luwie!Ganeshathasan!and! Michael! Mendis.! The! authors! are! grateful! to! Shehara! Athukorala,! Thyagi! Ruwanpathirana! and! Subhashini! Samaraarachchi! for! assisting! with! the! research! and! compilation! of! the! brief.! The! authors!also!wish!to!thank!Rohan!Edrisinha!for!his!suggestions!on!the!substance!and!form!of!the! >inal!report.!To!Mirak!Raheem!and!Dr.!P.!Saravanamuttu!who!provided!comments!on!previous! drafts.! Special! thanks! to! Dr.! Asanga! Welikala,! whose! support! in! the! project! formulation! stage! was!invaluable.! CPA!would!like!to!thank!the!Canadian!Department!for!Foreign!Affairs,!Trade!and!Development! (DFATD),! which! funded! this! project! through! the! Canada! Fund! for! Local! Initiatives.! The! views! expressed!in!this!report!are!those!of!the!authors!and!do!not!re>lect!the!views!of!the!DFATD.! The!research!and!policy!brief!would!not!have!been!possible!if!not!for!the!support!and!insights! provided! by! numerous! individuals.! CPA! is! deeply! indebted! to! all! these! individuals,! including! Justice! C.V.! Wigneswaran,! Chief! Minister,! Northern! Provincial! Council! (NPC);! C.V.! Kandiah! Sivagnanam! Chairman,! NPC;! Thambirasa! Kurukularasa,! Minister,! NPC;! and! Aruppillai! Sinnathurai!Thavarajah,!Opposition!Leader,!NPC;!Mr.!S.!Rangarajah!former!Chief!Secretary!to!the! North! Eastern! Provincial! Council;! Mr.! Asoka! Gunawardena! Chairman,! Governing! Council,! MARGA!Institute,!as!well!as!Senior!Of>icers!of!the!Finance!Commission.! !1 Table.of.Contents. Table.of.Contents.............................................................................................................................. 2. 1..Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 3. 1.1.Background:!Pre9Elections,!NPC!...................................................................................................................... 4! 1.2.!A!Brief!Overview!of!the!Governor’s!Of>ice!.................................................................................................. 5! 2..Rhetoric,.Realpolitik,.and.Power.Dynamics.in.the.NPC.................................................. 7. 2.1.!Background:!Pre9Election,!Post9Bifurcation!.............................................................................................. 7! 2.2.!Background:!NPC!Elections,!September!2013!.......................................................................................... 8! 2.3.!Rhetoric!Obstructive!to!Devolution:!Provincial!Politicians!................................................................. 9! 2.4.!Rhetoric!Obstructive!to!Devolution:!Central!Politicians!.................................................................... 11! 2.5.!Central!Administrative!Practices!Obstructive!to!Devolution!........................................................... 13! 2.6.!Conclusion!............................................................................................................................................................. 15! 3..The.Provincial.Public.Administration............................................................................... 16. 3.1.!Background!........................................................................................................................................................... 16! 3.2.!The!Administrative!Structure!in!the!Northern!Province!!.................................................................. 17! 3.3.!Institutional!Weaknesses!within!the!Provincial!Council!................................................................... 17! 3.4.!Centre9Province!Con>licts!in!Public!Administration!............................................................................ 19! 3.5.!The!Culture!of!Centralisation!!....................................................................................................................... 22! 3.6.!The!Role!of!the!Governor!in!relation!to!the!Provincial!Public!Service!!....................................... 23! 3.7.!The!Chief!Secretary!!........................................................................................................................................... 26! 4..The.Fiscal.and.Financial.Framework................................................................................. 29. 4.1.!Powers!and!Capacity!to!Raise!Revenues!within!the!Province!......................................................... 29! 4.2.!Fiscal!Equalisation:!the!Work!of!the!Finance!Commission!with!the!NPC!.................................. 32! 4.3.!Central!Control!of!Provincial!Finance!........................................................................................................ 39! 4.4.!Conclusion!............................................................................................................................................................. 44! 5..Judicial.Pronouncements.relating.to.the.Northern.Provincial.Council.................. 45. 5.1.!In!re!the!Twenty!First!Amendment!Bill!.................................................................................................... 45! 5.2.!The!Superintendent,!Stafford!Estate!v.!Solaimuthu!Rasu!.................................................................. 46! 5.3.!The!Chief!Secretary’s!Fundamental!Rights!Application!.................................................................... 48! 5.4.!Conclusion!............................................................................................................................................................. 49! 6..Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 51 !2 1..Introduction. Though!the!Thirteenth!Amendment!is!intended!as!the!solution!to!the!“national!question”,!that!of! accommodating!minority!ethnicities’!autonomy!within!a!pluralist!Sri!Lankan!state,!it!was!those! very! communities! who! were! deprived! longest! of! the! recourse! to! its! provisions.! The! Eastern! Province! elected! its! >irst! Provincial! Council! after! eighteen! years! of! direct! central! rule.! The! Northern!Province!was!not!as!fortunate,!forced!to!wait!>ive!years!longer!than!the!East!to!test! >inally,!in!September!2013,!the!mechanisms!of!the!provincial!council!system!that,!by!its!original! design,!were!to!settle!their!problems!of!majoritarian!marginalisation!and!discrimination.!That! the!election!came!after!a!four9year!delay!since!the!end!of!the!armed!struggle!only!added!insult!to! injury.!! From!the!statements!by!the!TULF!dismissing!it!in!the!late!Eighties,!to!those!calling!on!the!TNA!to! boycott! the! Eastern! Provincial! Council! elections! in! 2008,! a! majority! of! the! rhetorical! pronouncements!on!the!Thirteenth!Amendment!are!connected!by!the!underlying!theme!that!it! does!not!meet!the!aspirations!of!the!Tamil!people!living!in!Sri!Lanka.!By!contrast,!the!argument! that!the!Thirteenth!Amendment!gives!too!much!power!to!Provincial!Councils!–!particularly!in! relation!to!land!and!police!powers,!and!the!merger!of!the!provinces!–!and!is,!thus,!a!stepping! stone!for!secession!has!been!articulated!in!the!South!for!decades!in!order!to!justify!reneging!on! the!Amendment’s!promises.! At! the! root! of! this! stark! divergence! of! opinion! lay! the! reality! that! there! is! a! fundamental! disagreement! about! the! nature! of! the! Sri! Lankan! state! (how! it! was! and! how! it! should! be),! between!different!ethnic!communities.!It!has!to!be!acknowledged!that!this!divide!colours!the! manner!in!which!different!groups!will!perceive!certain!realities!relating!to!devolution!of!power,! and!that!this!divide!cannot!be!easily!bridged.!However,!part!of!the!problem!has!also!been!the! lack! of! an! understanding! of! how! much! or! how! little! autonomy! the! Thirteenth! Amendment! actually! allows,! even! when! stretched! to! its! limits.! Accordingly,! this! policy! brief! attempts! to! provide! a! commentary! on! the! Northern! Provincial! Council,! contextualising! the! theoretical! foundations!of!devolution!with!the!actual!experiences!of!the!Council!during!its!>irst!year!and!half! of!existence.!! The!study!limits!itself!to!this!period,!spanning!September!2013!to!February!2015,!in!terms!of! fact9>inding.! However,! commentary! on! the! broader! political! issues! that! undergird! those! experiences,! of! necessity,! reached! beyond! that! period.! Furthermore,! the! shifts! in! the! ground! situation!of!the!Northern!Province!after!the!change!of!regime!in!January!2015,!whilst!important!
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