PROPOSAL FOR THE POLITICAL SOLUTION - EPRLF

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Date: 2009/8/5
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Tuesday, 4 August 2009
PROPOSAL FOR THE POLITICAL SOLUTION - EPRLF

EELAM PEOPLE’S REVOLUTIONARY LIBERATION FRONT


PROPOSAL FOR THE POLITICAL SOLUTION

TO THE ETHNIC CONFLICT IN SRI LANKA


Submitted to Prof. Tissa Vitharana

(Chairman to the APRC)

For the Perusal of

The Members of the All Party Representatives Committee

and

The Members of the Constitutional Expert Committee


EPRLF – Pathmanabha

March-2007




Preface

The impasse in resolving the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is causing immense hardships and untold misery to the people of Sri Lanka in general and to the people of the North –East in particular. In the past two decades alone, seventy thousand people have perished, and almost a million people fled to India and to the west as refugees. About five hundred thousand people have been internally displaced and living as destitute. Particularly the people living in the North- East have been deprived of their fundamental rights and freedom and subjected to a life of near slavery. There seems to be no end to this continuing calamity in the near future, the only certainty to the people in the North-East is death and destruction.


However it is accepted by all concerned including the leaders of all the Sri Lankan communities that the root cause for this continuing tragedy is political. For the last half a century, since the very first attempt to address this issue in 1957, by the Bandaranayke – Chelvanayagam Pact until the latest attempts by the government led by Mrs.Chandrika Kumaratunge during 1995 to 2000 and by Mr.Ranil Wickramasinghe during 2002 to 2004, there has been numerous efforts to resolve this conflict. During this period India and the International community also made substantial efforts to resolve this problem. It is important to understand why these efforts have not made any progress towards viable political resolution to this conflict.


It is our considered opinion that despite the prevalence of the unmitigated terrorism of the LTTE over the Tamil people; still vast majority of the Tamils in Sri Lanka desires a dignified political solution based on a meaningful devolution of power. It is obvious that the Tamil people’s urge and desire is not for any unacceptable extreme demand but for a political system that can address their genuine grievances within the parameters of a united Sri Lanka. Such political solution should be just and reasonable in the context of International norms and justice. We are also of the opinion that it is a grave mistake of the Government of Sri Lanka and also of the International community to wait for the LTTE and delay the process of working out a mechanism that meets the aspiration of the Tamils.


The approach to resolve this complex problem should be cognisant of the following:


The need to identify the fundamental issues and the awareness of the historical background of the conflict.
Political objective of any process should seek to find a just solution which honestly addresses all the main issues underlying in the conflict.
Above all the leaders should have the courage and determination to dispense with the North –East secessionists whose importance can be minimized by a reasonable political solution and be able to disregard the Sinhala extremists who account for less than seven percent of the Sinhala voters.

There is also a section of political commentators who argue that the people now need peace and there is not much point in discussing about a political solution. Their justification for this view is that the people are subjected to immense hardships so the first step should be to bring peace and hence the modalities of a political solution are irrelevant at present.


Experience shows that the ceasefire between warring parties only helped to strengthen their positions and paved the way to intensify the conflict. Permanent peace can only be achieved by a political solution which satisfies the basic aspirations of the people. Failure to address these issues will only help to strengthen the secessionists and extremists on both sides.


EPRLF has been consistent and unequivocal for the last twenty years in our position that the so called military strength of the LTTE or its ability to perpetrate terrorist violence will never advance the process of finding a justifiable solution to the ethnic problem; on the contrary it will only bring more death and destruction. EPRLF also firmly believes that the removal of the LTTE factor from the Tamil political arena will only help to hasten the process towards a meaningful and genuine devolution.


We must also be aware of the fact that the origins of the ethnic conflict are not the LTTE terrorism. The exclusion of the Tamils in the process of constitution making, the alienation from and discrimination by the state institutions, and feeling of insecurity gradually pushed them to demand constitutional and institutional measures to ensure meaningful participation in the nation building process.


EPRLF firmly believes that a just political framework needs to be worked out and enshrined in the constitution. This should be followed by the establishment of the necessary institutional infrastructures and administrative measures. EPRLF continues to endeavour to fully participate in all the process that seeks to resolve the ethnic conflict through constitutional reform in order to build a strong united Sri Lanka.


In this context EPRLF’s participation in the North–East Provincial Council was our first attempt to realise this goal which had been thwarted by the then Premadasa led Government and the LTTE coalition.


EPRLF also took active part in the consultation process of the previous All Party Conference and expressed our opinion and concerns on the Mangala Moonesinghe findings.


We have also supported the initiatives taken by Mrs. Chandrika Bandaranayke in her efforts to present a proposal and pointed out our concerns relating to her draft. But, the misplaced expectation of the Government and to some extent the International Community to confine the process only to convince the LTTE stalled that initiative. The Sinhala extremists used the LTTE’s intransigence as an excuse to prevent the passage of any constitutional change.


Consistent with our approach to fully participate in the process of working out the modalities of the political solution and also in response to His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s initiative of appointing an All Party Representative Committee (APRC) EPRLF would like to present the details of our proposal to the APRC.


It is unfortunate that we are not represented in the present Parliament; however we take this opportunity to thank the Chairman of the APRC for inviting other parties which are not represented in the Parliament at present to submit their proposal.


In our proposal we have outlined the main aspects after taking consideration of the matters broadly detailed as following:




The basic reasons for the expansion of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka are that the Tamil people have been treated as a second citizens for last more than six decades; that the repeated anti-Tamil riots to the level of pogroms; that the Tamils have been made minority and insecure in their own traditional habitats; that the representatives of the Tamils have been made non-influential and alienated from the state power and the structures due to their minority status in number; and that the representation of the Tamils in Armed forces, Police and the administrative institutions have been reduced near to zero level or to the negligible percentage.
Further, the LTTE have, for last twenty years, killed the Tamils in thousands and thereby, politically enslaved the whole Tamil community through its mass-terrorization. In addition, the LTTE has been consistently engaged in ethnic cleansing of Muslim people from the North-East through unleashing the killings and banishing the common Muslim people from their own traditional habitats. In addition, It is well understood that the LTTE, in order to maintain its bargaining power with the state, has been often one after the other involved in here and there indiscriminate mass killings of the innocent Sinhala people inside the North-East and in adjoining Sinhala majority-districts. Such activities of the LTTE have made more and more complications in the ethnic conflict.
LTTE’ strength of violence can be gradually brought down and its power of terrorism can be eradicated by a joint / coordinated effort of all the democratic forces in the country, along with a reasonable and just political solution to the problems of the Tamils and Muslim people. The LTTE problem is, hence, a temporary phenomena. But, the majoritarian Sinhala – communal hegemony / dominancy is comparatively a permanent one, because the Sinhala people account more than seventy percent of the population and the Democracy which we follow determines the political power by the numerical strength of the population. Therefore, there must be provisions and system to accommodate reasonably sufficient representation to and balancing mechanism which can control any particular racial / communal hegemony over the numerically minority nationalities, not only in the Provincial governance but also in the Central governance.
When determining the units of devolution, there must be a clear resolution to provide a special system of political authority to the Muslim people so as to satisfy their political aspirations and anticipations. Subsequently, the territory of the united North-East Province should be re-demarcated so that justice can be provided to the injustice done to the Tamil people in their own historical habitats through the State-aided Sinhala Colonisation Schemes carried out for last more than six decades, and the Tamil people can be given the feeling of politically secured by providing them a political unit that unite them ethnically as much as possible and territorially contiguous.
When dividing and defining the subjects to devolve the legislative and executive powers to the Provinces, the degree of devolution should be very clear and at high level on the following subjects: :
Land and Land Development including State Land and Forestry;
Police, and Law and Order;
Education system, Education Development Programmes, and Educational Institutions;
Maintenance of number of personnel, not less than ratio of population of minority nationalities, in the Armed forces, Police forces, and State administrations, not only in the Provinces, but also at the Central Govt. institutions;
The institutions and the funds for the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Programmes in the North-East;
Institutions and the Programmes for the Development of Agriculture, Fisheries, Industrial, Tourism and Service sectors;
Institutions and the Development Programes of the Essential Commodities like Food items, Cloths and dresses, Housing, and Health and Medical facilities;
Institutions and the Programmes for Reconstruction and Development of Urban areas and infrastructures, Development of the Villages, and the Local Governments like Minicipal Councils, Urban Councils, Pradeshya Sabhas, Village Panchayats, etc;
Institutions and Programes for the Development of Road and Transport Communications, Electricity, Gas and Water Supply, and Telecommunications, which are imperative to the Human Resources and Social Growth;
The Institutions and the Programmes for the Protection and the Promotion of the matters related to the Languages, Religions and Cultures;

On these subjects listed above, the Constitutional provisions related devolution of powers to the Tamil-majority North-East Province ( to the Muslim Province too when it is created) must be unequivocal and clearly defined so as to avoid unnecessary interference of the Central government on the functions of the Provincial governments.


The leader of TULF, Mr.V.Ananthasangaree has consistently expressed his opinion as the system and degree of devolution to the Tamil-majority province should be given as that in Indian Political System. Relevance and arguments underlying in his opinion should be considered very seriously;
Due to the over-proportionated fear-cry of the Sinhala extremists, a sort of Federal-phobia prevails widespread among the Southern political circle. At the same time, the Constitutional experts have repeatedly opined many times that a proper devolution is not possible in so far as the constitution holds the term “Unitary” in it. However, a general compromising-consensus has evolved to avoid both the terms “Unitary” as well as the term “Federal” when making the new constitution. For the sake of progress of the devolution process, with the support of large ratio of the Sinhala leaders and the people, it should be recognized as a better choice;
In order to ensure that the devolution of powers is meaningful, the constitutional provisions and arrangements should be made properly so that the provinces themselves can collect enough tax and non-tax revenues and also the provinces can receive sufficient financial revenues and resources so much as the Provincial governments can duly deliver results pertaining to their constitutional and political duties and responsibilities;
The constitutional provisions and arrangements should be made so as to define the powers, authorities, functions and the institutional infrastructures of both systems of governance, Central and the Provincials, to avoid any encroachment of the one on the other, particularly that of the Center on the Provinces, and to ensure that the both system of governance function smoothly and effectively without any contradiction to each other.
The world-wide experience is that no devolutionary process can take place by one gallop. So, the constitution in force should have the flexibility to accommodate the progress of the political civilization and the systems for deepening the democratization towards communities and common people. In addition, the constitutional development should enhance the trust and firm confidence of the people who have dragged on in the internal conflicts and faced deprivations and disasters for many decades. So the immediate and essential duty of the true nationalist and Sri Lankan unionist leaders among all communities is to establish a political system that can resolve the communal-based conflicts; that can build the confidence of and fraternity among all the people of all the communities and that can prevent all communal, chauvinistic or narrow nationalist forces that uses the ignorant sentiment of the different innocent communities.

Those discerning political observers would agree that the EPRLF has never taken a populist position on issues related to socio political maters but always addressed the issues from the interests of the ordinary people. EPRLF envisage these proposals as yet another historical attempt that would bring the communities together and help all the people to progress towards a permanent solution.


The priority of the Government today is to finalise a political package that is acceptable by the main Sinhala Political Leaders, the leadership of the Tamil and Muslim communities and the International community including India in order to enshrine that into the constitution. EPRLF firmly believes that a reasonable solution can never be defeated by the separatist terrorists or the Sinhala extremists.


EPRLF hopes that the reasonable Sri Lankan polity would see the rationale and the relevance to the present circumstances and consider our proposals with due care and consideration.




POLITICAL PROPOSALS

TO RESOLVE THE ETHNIC CONFLICT

Presented By EPRLF-Pathmanabha


01. Sri Lanka should be constituted as:

The UNITED DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA

· The Republic of Sri Lanka shall be constituted on the basis of the principles of Federalism, Democracy and Human Rights, in order to protect and accommodate comprehensively the aspirations of all the different sections living in this island and thereby to enhance the unity and integrity of the country;

· The United Republic shall have a Provincial State for each Province defined in the constitution, in order to mind and foster the interests and particular aspirations of all the citizens in the Province and obliged to preserve peace, equality and fraternity among all the communities in the Province, and protect the life and property of all the people in the Province;

· The Provincial States shall be made inseparable from the Republic and integrated by a Union of States, which shall have the powers and functions compatible with protecting the overall national interests, preserving unity and integrity of the country, and to coordinate the general advancement of all the communities.

· The Constitution of the country is the supreme law that ensures the democratic and federal political system, the rule of law and the rights of the people; and to define and provide the legislative and executive powers, and consociate control and coordinate Union and Provincial States in the country.

Note:

Expectation for the immediate future is that the term “Unitary” should be repealed from the present Constitution, even if not the term ‘federal’ is placed in its stead, so as to provide the constitutional basics for the constitution-makers to truly ‘maximize’ the devolution of powers to the Provincial States.


02. No Majoritarian Hegemony in the Centre nor in the Provinces:

a. Provisions should be so enacted in the new constitution as to obviate a “two thirds majority” control by a particular political party or a particular national community, in any legislative Assembly, be it Parliament or Provincial Legislative Assembly:

b. Either by re-delimitation of the constituencies or by a system of reserved or multi-members constituencies, the national minority communities should together have not less than one third of the membership in the Parliament.


03. The House of National Communities – Bicameral Parliament:-

All those who believe in democracy largely agree that owing to the existing politico-social formation and conditions of Sri Lanka, there is an indisputable need for a Bicameral system of Parliament, of which the Second Chamber should be constituted in order to uphold and protect equality among all the National communities and to prevent any legislative or executive activity detrimental to the basic rights and interests of any community in the country by any governing authority.

The Second Chamber of the Parliament can be named ‘House of National Communities’ with following considerations

a) The main national communities in Sri Lanka are Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, and Upcountry Tamils;

b) The combined strength of the representatives of all the national minority communities should have not less than forty percent representation in this house;

c) Structure of representation of this house should be formulated, so as to represent the Provincial Assemblies, Pradeshya Sabhas, Trade Unions, University graduates and under-graduates, Scholars, Industrialists, Professionals and other national personalities;

d) With other functions of the traditional second chamber, the main function and responsibility of this house should be to protect the basic aspirations and interests of all the national communities in the country;

e) Vice president or a person appointed by the President, such as a retired pubic servant who held higher office and is considered suitably eminent and experienced, shall be the Chairman of this House;

f) If any bill or resolution, tabled before the Parliament or any Provincial Legislative Assembly, is not agreed to by fifty or more than than fifty percent of the representatives of each national community in the assembly, then, the bill should, at first, be amicably amended and sanctioned by this house;

g) Any amendment to any important provisions of the Constitution, related to the principles of protection of the aspirations and the interests of minority communities, shall need the approval of the two third representatives of this House too.

h) Similar Arrangements, wherever needed, should be made in the Provincial States also.

04. President of the Republic and the Prime Minister:

a. The system of Executive President, elected by the people directly, should be continued. But. The exclusive executive powers to the President should be limited by the Constitution.

b. While President holds executive powers to determinate the matters related with the following areas, such as: (1) The National Defence and Security; (2) The Affairs of the Provincial States; (3) The External Affairs; (4) The Central Bank and the National Treasury, The Ministers for all other subjects shall be appointed or dismissed by the President only on the advice of the Prime Minister.

c. The Central Police Department shall be under the Prime Minister’s Office.

d. The President shall discharge his/her executive powers only on the advice of the Prime Minister or the Cabinet of the Ministers on the subjects of the Central government, except those under the direct executive control of the President.

e. The President should also be made answerable and accountable to the Parliament

f. The President and The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers should hold collective responsibility for all the Central ministries.

g. All the agreements, pacts and MOU with the foreign countries can become legally valid only after the approval of the Parliament;

h. As long as the Prime Minister holds majority support of the members in the parliament, the President cannot dissolve the Parliament, except on the reasons specifically listed in the Constitution, before six months from the due date for its reelection


05. Vice President

i. The Vice President should be belong to a national community other than that of the President;

ii. The Vice President can be elected jointly by the people along with the President at the same election, or by the legislators and the Pradeshya Sabha members as per the provisions in the constitution. In case of the latter option, the representatives of the minority nationalities should be given more weightage;

iii. The Vice President should be the Chairperson of the Second Chamber of the Parliament and the Chairperson of the National Finance and Planning Commission.




06. Establishment of the Secular State:-

Sri Lanka is multi-ethnic, multi- religious and multi-cultural country. The Constitution of Sri Lanka should, in no way regard any particular religion as having preeminence above other religions or belief systems among the people of the country. The Constitutional arrangements should pave the way for mutual trust and harmony among all the religious communities. The Government should be seen as secular and completely neutral both in spirit and practice with regard to all religious groupings. The duty of the state in this matter should be to protect the basic interests and aspirations of the people with different beliefs equally, since the beliefs, truths and knowledge are universal, neither national nor provincial.


PROVINCIAL STATE
7. Territories of Provincial States (Unit of Devolution)

Tamil people’s demand for the united North-East province is to enable them to protect their lives and the properties and to preserve their political, economical and social existence. It is the long years of discrimination and the misery created by the prolonged war that has exacerbated the feeling of insecurity of the Tamils. In our view vast majority of the Tamils aspire for a period of stability and yearning for a sense of security; this can be created only by restoring the merger and thereby all the people of Sri Lanka Shall embark on a nation building programme for a strong untied Sri Lanka.

However to address the genuine apprehensions and fears of the Muslims and the Sinhalese living in the North – East, the EPRLF proposes the following modalities that addresses the concerns of the Muslims and the Sinhalese People in the North- East province. It is a combination of measurers of readjustment of Provincial and District boundaries in Ampara and Trincomalee Districts and the possibility of adjoining the Ampara polling division with the Uva Province. In this context it is important to address the issues relating to the Weli Oya scheme as well.


7A. Political Arrangement Addressing The Concerns of the Muslim People

The Muslim people have justifiable concerns that there is no space for power sharing for them neither in the Centre nor at the provincial level that could protect the aspirations of the Muslim community. Furthermore the atrocities and the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the LTTE in the past have made it imperative that any sustainable solution should address the concerns of the Muslims.

A viable formation for the Muslims has to be centered on the Muslim majority areas in the Eastern Province where the Muslim population is substantially high. This must be seen as a process to untie the communities by recognizing the mutual apprehensions but not as a demand by the Muslims to bifurcate the North-East.

EPRLF proposes the following options for the consideration of the Muslim People:

Option 1:

Redefine the Ampara District as a new Province for the Muslims – South- Eastern Province- while the Districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee and the Northern Province can remain as the single North- Eastern Province subject to the following considerations.

a) Ampara poling division (Electorate) should have the option of being annexed to the Uva Province to alleviate the anxieties of the Sinhalese that they might become the minorities in that province.

b) Ensuring that the arrangements which would be proposed by the Muslim leaders for the Tamil-dominated Pradeshya Sabha divisions in the South-Eastern province should be reciprocated to the Muslims-dominated Pradeshya Sabha divisions in the new North-East province.

Option 2:

The said South-Eastern Province administratively adjoined to non-contiguous Muslim Pradeshya divisions such as Kanthankudi, Eravur Town, Valaichenai Town, Kinniya, Muthur and Erukkalampiddy (An arrangement similar to the Pondichery state in India). In such a formation the new united North-East province shall hold similar reciprocated arrangement over the Tamil-dominated Pradeshya Sabha divisions in the new South –Eastern Province.

It is to be noted here that there are some non-contiguous Tamil Pradeshya Sabha divisions in the Amparai district.

1) Kalmunai North (Tamil) Pradeshya Division,

2) Karaitivu Pradeshya Division,

3) Alaiyadivembu Pradeshya Division

4) Thambiluvil - Thirukkovil Pradeshya Division.

Option 3:

Formation of a Muslim Council within the united North-East Province having powers on a list of subjects and shall take care of all the Muslim-dominated Pradeshya Sabha divisions.

Muslim people in the North - East and their leaders have the right to decide on the appropriate option that addresses their concerns.

Tamil and Muslim leaders can work out the details of the mutual arrangements about the non-contiguous areas through a consultation process about the mechanism where their communities dominate. In the meantime the issue of the arrangements for the agricultural hinterlands belongs to one community that fall inside the other divisions.


There is a general and informal understanding among the various political formations that a re-demarcation of Provincial boundaries is essential. This is to reconcile the basic democratic aspirations and the interests of the national minority communities.


7B. Territorial Re-demarcation

The repeatedly mentioned referendum in the various previous Proposals to unite the Provinces of the North and East, will undoubtedly further deepen and widen the divisions and hostilities among the different communities. Such referendum will only help the extreme communal forces of all sides to stir up tensions and fears.

The Provincial boundaries are mere geographical entities drawn by the colonial rulers for administrative purposes thus they are not sacrosanct. These boundaries were given political status only in 1987 through the 13th Amendment of the constitution.

It must be noted that the Banda-Selva Pact of 1957 and the Dudley- Selva agreement of 1965 were meant to resolve the issue of state aided colonization and the resultant tensions between the communities. Had those pacts been implemented perhaps the question of merger or de - merger would not have arose. The issue of a united North-East province is a responsive demand to counterbalance the effects of the state aided colonization.

In 1988, Mrs. Bandaranaike too promised to dismantle all the state – aided colonization implemented since 1970, in her Presidential election Manifesto, to resolve the ethnic problem.


7B1 Adjoin Amparai Polling Division with Other Provinces

EPRLF proposes to separate Amparai Polling Division from the North -East Province and annex it with the Uva province which looks after the subjects of the police and the judiciary of the said division at present.

The underlying reason for this suggestion is that the majority population of the Amparai Polling Division does not have any meaningful social or political relationship with the people of the other parts of Amparai District, except being used as tools to create tension and undermine the basic political existence of the Tamils and Muslims.


7B2. Reformulate Weli Oya scheme

a) The land area of the Weli Oya Scheme, falling inside the Mullaitivu and Trincomalee districts, should be reformulated so that the former Tamil villages are duly restored as they were before 1984 and the state lands are redistributed to the people according to the 1981 ethnic proportions in the respective districts.

b) Accommodation should be worked out for a selected number of Sinhala agricultural families who have genuinely settled in the State lands and been permanently living here for more than a decade without land or house property in their original villages.


7B3. Readjustment of Trincomalee Border Villages

The State-aided colonization had affected the ethnic composition in the Trincomalee district as well. In the 1950s entire Allai-Kanthalai area were made to become largely Sinhalese dominated area and thereby in 1976 the Seruwawela constituency was created in Trincomalee district. In the 1960s and 70’s the Sinhala settlements in the Trincomalee Town and the surrounding areas were expanded.

Despite this EPRLF does not demand any measures that disturb the normal life of the Sinhalese people. However, EPRLF proposes the following to rectify the situation:

The Sinhala dominated AGA divisions and Grama Sevaka divisions along the border of the Trincomalee and Pollanaruwa districts should be identified and annexed to the North-Central Province while ensuring such readjustments be made in a manner that does not interfere with the territorial contiguity of the North-East Province from Vavuniya to Trincomalee and Trincomalee to Batticaloa.


7B4 . Future of the East

The original rationale for the united North-East Province or the current need for it is to enable all the people living there, in particular the Tamil people, to find peace, democracy and stability in their own historical habitats. Once all the Tamil-speaking people, Tamils and Muslims as well. who have been ejected and devastated, resettle and regain their self-confidence, the Tamil leaders of the East in consultation and coordination with the Muslim and Sinhala leaders of their province could decide the future of the East.


7C. United North-East shall strengthen the Unity of Sri Lanka

One main thing must be kept in mind that here the political arrangements are for the protection, safety and security of the minority communities and to preserve their interests and aspirations, within a united country. So the approach to the solution should not be based on LTTE-phobia. the popular demand for the political structural solution is not meant to create a separate state or to hand over the Tamils to LTTE terrorism. Hence, attempts to carve out a pure-Tamil province will inevitably promote and strengthen the narrow-Tamil nationalists and that in turn would drive the Sinhalese extremist-chauvinists to extend their clout among the Sinhala masses. The political solution is to resolve the ethnic conflict, not to prolong it permanently.

EPRLF’s vision is to build Sri Lanka a united multi-ethnic nation through diversified political processes that would satisfy different interests of the different sections of the people equally, while preserving the unity and integrity of the country. Thus the political solution must set up the institutions and traditions that shall work against conflict, undermine the war, and uphold a peaceful and democratic environment for the prosperity of all the communities and the country as a whole. No political solution can at once satisfy all the groups at a time. But, finding a reasonable and just political solution, and establishing it on a footing that encourages trust and the practice of doing things together would be the right way to spike the extremists on all sides.

EPRLF expect that the Sinhala leaders, who are honestly concerned about the interests of the Sinhala people and wish no ill to the Tamils, should prefer these arrangements. Tamil people’s expectation is that Sinhala leaders should understand the past and present and provide a fair political solution with prudence, courage and determination in the interests of all the people in Sri Lanka.

EPRLF request that the Tamil leaders also need to understand the existing realities of the socio – political development in Sri Lanka and the conditions of the Tamil people. No civilized, sensible and responsible person should help the blood – thirsty war mongers. To achieve peace and democracy, a policy of give and take, compromise and consensus along with recognizing the mutual aspirations and the apprehensions of the others, are essential and inevitable.


08. Provincial Legislative Council (P.L.C) :

1) Every PLC also shall have two houses –

(1) Provincial Legislative Assembly, and

(2) Provincial House of National Communities;

2) PLC shall make laws and statutes on all the subjects other than those exclusively reserved for the Parliament. With regard to the subjects listed in the concurrent list, the PLC shall make laws and statutes in compliance with the laws of the Parliament.

3) Provincial Legislative Councils are deemed to be and shall be treated as the essential parts of the governance of the country, not as subordinate institutions to the Parliament or the Central Govt.,

4) The Governor may summon, dissolve and prorogue the PLC of the Province when the Chief Minister requests him in writing


09. The Governor

1) The Governor is the President’s representative to the Provincial State, appointed by the President for a period of five years. in concurrence with the Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader of the Province;

2) No serving public service personnel shall be appointed to the post of Governor. No Governor shall hold any membership or responsibility in another office, be it a government or private concern, except the honourary ex-officio positions specifically provided by the laws and statutes.

3) The Governor shall be the nominal head of the Provincial State, which includes the Provincial Legislative Council, the Provincial Government, and the Public, Police and Judicial administrations of the Province;

4) The Governor would only be the nominal head of the executive of the Province and shall use executive powers only on the advice of the Chief Minister or the Board of Ministers of the Province;

5) The Governor, in fact, shall be a Constitutional monitor of the Province on behalf of the President. Hence, no office or person can interfere or raise question on any communication of the Governor with the President.;

6) Formation of Caretaker Govt.

Whenever the Governor dissolves the Provincial Legislative Council on the advice of the Chief Minister, the Governor shall request the Chief Minister to continue in his office until the re-election process is completed and the new Government is formed.

In case the Council is dissolved due to the loss of majority by the elected government and no alternative party to hold majority, the Governor shall be the head of the caretaker government with the advisers appointed by the President

7) Where the Presidential Rule is proclaimed, the President shall, for the particular period, appoint a competent advisory body to the Governor, at his pleasure, but not from the persons serving in any part of the Govt.

8) The Governor shall have no exclusive discretionary power, except reporting to the President, when the elected government is in office;

9) The Governor shall not involve in any party politics or in any activity of any political party either during the term of office or within five years after the termination from the office:

10) A Governor may be re-appointed. However, under no circumstances shall any person hold the office of the Governor for a total of more than ten years.


10. Provincial Government (P.G):-

1) The Provincial governments shall be vested with the Executive Powers on all the subjects in which the Provincial Legislative Councils are vested with corresponding Legislative Powers. (Note – The Union Government shall be vested with the executive powers only on the subjects on which the Parliament has exclusive legislative powers. This will remove the confusion and complications about the legislative and executive powers on the subjects listed in the “Concurrent List”, in case such list is there in the Constitution. Interpreting the concurrent list as a “Joint List” is a disguised enlargement of the Union powers to subordinate the Provincial governments);

2) The Chief Minister (C.M)of the Provincial State shall be appointed by the President and take oath of office before President;

3) Upon the request of the C.M., every member of the Council of Ministers of the Provincial Government shall be appointed or dismissed by the Governor:

4) The Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers are collectively responsible, answerable and accountable to their PLC;

5) The Chief Minister of the Provincial Government shall continue to hold office as long as he/she carries majority support of the house. Such support could be tested by vote on the floor of the House alone.


11. Proclamation of Presidential Rule in a Province -Suspension, Dissolution and Dismissal

· Where the President could objectively demonstrate by criteria to be specified that the Chief Minister and the Board of Ministers as a whole, or the Provincial Legislative Council are misusing the office in a manner that endangers the unity and integrity of the Republic, then the President shall use his/her power, with the concurrence of the Cabinet of the Centre as provided in the Constitution, to suspend the Provincial Govt. or the Provincial Legislative Council or both, The proclamation of this kind shall be referred to a higher Tribunal specially formed by the President within fourteen days of the proclamation to adjudicate on whether the Provincial Govt. needs to be dismissed or the Provincial Legislative Council be dissolved or both and only then could the Parliament finalize the decision of dismissal and the dissolution by a special resolution supported by a majority of three fifths the total members of the Parliament.

· If the Proclamation of suspension is revoked by the President or the Tribunal or Parliament, then the elected Provincial Legislative Council and the Provincial Govt. shall be allowed to continue for their due period, not including the period of suspension

· Every extension of the Proclamation of Governor’s rule beyond six months shall need the approval of the two third the members of the Parliament.

12. Preservation of Provincial Governing System

· After the first North-East Provincial Council was dissolved in 1990, the provincial powers and functions were surreptitiously withdrawn back to Colombo. Central Minister and the bureaucrats having expropriated such powers have been discharging them directly from Colombo. By these practices, the relevant Constitutional provisions have been weakened and violated. By such practices and interpretations, render the Provincial state virtually made defunct once the Provincial Council is dissolved, except retaining a nominal Governor and some administrators with powerless offices. This practice shall make the public servants feel vulnerable when working under a Provincial / Provincial system. When the first North East Provincial Council was established with all difficulties and odds, very talented and experienced Tamil Public Servants joined one after the other and served boldly and enthusiastically.

· In case any attempt is made again to build the Provincial / Provincial State in the manner it was earlier, it would be very difficult to the Tamil leaders to convince the administrators to trust the system, unless the Constitution provides the guaranties explicitly and the Central Govt. acts with the administrative declarations of assurances to the senior public servants so as to eradicate the apprehension and fear to serve in the Provincial governing system.

· Those who argue that this is how the Indian constitution provides power to the Centre to dissolve the Provincial States and dismiss the Provincial governments, they must understand the fact that the practices of governance in India have not been followed by the Central Govt. of Sri Lanka for last sixteen years in the case of the North East Provincial Council. In fact, there is a need of strong initiative to correct the wrong legacy established by the late President Premadasa.

· So the Constitutional arrangements for the future should be made with open, clear, direct and transparent provisions that cannot be interpreted in any other way.

· Indeed, a Provincial Legislative Council may be suspended or dissolved and a Provincial Govt. may be suspended or dismissed according to the provisions in the Constitution. But under no circumstances should the Provincial governing system be suspended or dissolved as long as the Constitution maintains the system;

· It shall be contrary to the Constitution that upholds the Provincial Governing System, if any Central Minister exercises any executive power or function, fully or partly, devolved to the Provincial government. Only the legislative powers devolved to the Provincial council shall be exercised by the parliament during the said period.

· It shall be the duty of the Central Government to protect every Provincial Governing System and to ensure that the Government of every Province is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. In fact, the Central Govt. should strengthen the Provincial governing system so that it could deal with the problems it faces and discharge its obligations and responsibilities as provided in the Constitution. If it is weakened for any reason then that shall in turn alienate and isolate the people of the Province not only from the Provincial State but also from the entire National Establishment.

13. Public Administration of the Provincial State:-

1) On the advice of the Chief Minister, the Governor of that Province shall appoint the Chief Secretary, Ministerial Secretaries, Heads of Departments / Boards, and Heads of Districts from the National Administrative Service officers in the Provincial administration

2) Appointments of the executive head of the professional or the technical departments shall be made by the decision of the Board of Ministers from among personnel of the relevant services of the Province as per the law made by the PLC

3) All other appointments to the Provincial public administration shall be made by the decision of the Board of Ministers of the Province from the National Services or Provincial Services in compliance with the law of the RLC

4) The Provincial Public Service Commission and the Provincial Police Service Commission shall function as advisory and subordinate parts of the Provincial government, in the matters of recruitment, appointments, regularizations, promotions, etc. of Provincial State service personnel.


14. Provincial Administration of Justice :-

1) Provincial Govt. shall constitute and administer the Pradeshya Divisional Courts as per the law made by the PLC;

2) Judges to such Pradeshya Divisional Courts shall be appointed by the governor on the recommendations of the PJSC;

3) There shall be a Provincial Judicial Service Commission (PJSC) in each Province. This Commission shall function as an advisory and consultative body to the Provincial Government on the matters of the administration of justice in the Province.

4) This commission shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Board of Ministers;

5) There shall be a ‘Rural Juries Board’ constituted and regulated by the RJSC as per the law made by the RLC, to every Grama Division for settling the disputes at local level itself;

6) The Governor shall appoint or dismiss the Justices of Peace in the Province with the concurrence of the PJSC.


15. The Provincial Attorney General / Advocate General:-

1) There shall be an Attorney General for every Provincial State, as there is an Attorney General for the Union;

2) Functions and responsibilities of the Provincial Attorney General shall parallel with the Attorney General of the Union as relevant;

3) The Governor shall appoint the Provincial Attorney General, on the advice of the Chief Minister;

4) The Attorney General of the Province is the chief advocate of the Provincial Government;

5) All the matters related with the Attorney General shall be determined by the PLC


16. Basic Rights of the Provincial Legislative Council :-

1) The Provincial Legislative Councils shall make laws and statutes on all the subjects not reserved exclusively to the Parliament, in the Constitution;

2) The PLCs shall make laws or statutes, or pass resolutions or recommendations, without violating the conditions as laid in the Constitution;

3) The PLCs and the members of the PLCs should have the immunities and the privileges as so much as the Parliament and the Members of the Parliament are provided.

4) Legislative Powers of the Provincial Legislative Council shall be transferred when the particular Provincial State is under the President’s Rule. However, the executive powers of the Provincial Govt. shall not be transferable at any moment. In case the PLC is suspended or dissolved under the specific Emergency Regulations, the Governor shall exercise all the executive powers directly through the Secretaries of the Ministries.

17. Provincial Constitution:

1) The PLCs may make their own Constitution by two third majority, in complete compliance with the Constitution of the Republic. Such Constitution may be suspended by the President as provided, when the Provincial Legislative Council is dissolved under the “emergency’. But, the revocation of such Presidential rule shall immediately revalidate the Provincial Constitution. Constitutionality of such Provincial Constitution, fully or part thereof, may be determined by the Supreme Court, as and when it is sought.

2) The Constitution may bind the Provincial Legislative Council and Provincial Govt. from acting detrimentally to the unity and integrity of the country. But they should have the right to make representation with suggestions, proposals and recommendations to the Union Govt. on any matter where the power of final decision and implementation is vested with the Parliament and the Central Government;

18. Formation of the Provincial Government

18A. Formation of Board of Ministers

The Present System or Executive Committee System

Forming the Board of Ministers comprising all the Parties represented in the Provincial Legislative Assembly, according to their proportionate representation in the Council is incorrect for many reasons some of which are following,

1) The Tamils’ demand cannot be simplified to a demand for an administrative reform, but indeed for a sharing of political power.

2) Democratic aspirations of the people of the Province have to be allowed to evolve on its own.

3) Even if there is a peculiar need for an interim arrangement for a particular prevailing situation, then that should not be made a permanent arrangement that may impair long term purposes and be a hindrance to all positive political developments;

4) Where a Govt. is constituted by an appointment of Ministers from all Parties, irrespective of their ability to identity with a united political program, the head of the particular Govt. and other ministers cannot be bound by the conventional democratic norms or the Constitutional duty and obligation of collective responsibility, answerability and accountability to the house of representatives of the people of the Province. And further, this form of a Govt. would pave the way for inefficiency and ineffectiveness in its functions and commitments that would, in turn, make the people become isolated and frustrated.

Formation of the Board of Ministers must, therefore, be continuously allowed to be the prerogative power and authority and responsibility of the Chief Minister, who belongs to a particular Party or to an alliance that commands majority of the House.

By the executive committee form of ministries, the posts of Chief Ministers of the Provinces are made mere nominal. The Chief Minister has no prerogative power in appointing Ministers or assigning Ministers. So, the Chief Minister shall become simply a convener and figure-head chairman of the Board of Ministers.

Suppose by any reason, the Central political leaders feels that this collective form of Govt. formation is good form of democracy or essential for the country, then the application and practice of such system should be commenced at the Centre. Let the Provincial councilors and governments follow and learn from the Parliament in the formation of their committees and in establishing customs and conventions in their own functions and procedures and codes of conduct for conducting their business.

18b. Number of Ministers in the Provincial Cabinet


The number of Ministers on the Board of Ministers should not be fixed by specific designations in the Constitution. To limit the maximum and minimum number of Ministerial Posts in the government of a country can be made by provisions of principle guidelines in the Constitution. The number of Ministers at the Centre also, in the same sprit, should be limited by the Constitution. For example, the number in the Board of Ministers for the Centre or a Province should not be less than five persons and not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the total membership of the House.

However, it is essential that the Constitution must have provisions to comply the Center and the Provinces as well to have Ministers so as to represent the population ratio of communities in their territory of jurisdiction.


19. Financial Devolution

The Provincial State must have sources to receive or obtain sufficient revenue to discharge its duties and responsibilities and implement its development programmes, without excessive dependence on the Centre. Accordingly, the constitution should devolve the financial sources sufficiently and have clear provisions for the mandatory allocation from the Central revenue to the Provincial States.

It will take time to develop a proper “Revenue Collection” machinery at Provincial level. It is, in fact, the duty and responsibility of the Central Govt. to assist the Provincial State to develop such machinery. By the time the permanent revenue collection set up is built fully, a transitional arrangement can be provided by the Central govt. in concurrence with the relevant Provincial Govt. The devolution of financial power, not simply the financial distribution, is imperative to make the other devolution of powers meaningful. The centralization of financial powers not only erodes the good relations between the Centre and the Provinces but also undermines the basic norms of democracy since partisan politics of a party at the Centre can destabilize the Provincial system at any point of time when that is ruled by another Party. Therefore without any ambiguity and distortions, all the legislative powers for the Provincial revenues and the revenue collection machineries have to be devolved to the Provincial states.


19a. Finance of the Province

It should be generally understood that the devolution of financial powers to the Provincial States should be more than those provided in the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution. Hence, in addition to the fund provided by the National Finance Commission from the revenue of the Union Govt., the following Financial Powers should be devolved as the minimum:-

a) Taxes on Wholesale and Retail sales within the Province. Since the Value-Added Tax method has replaced the Sales Tax system, the power of Value Added Taxation and the revenue should be vested with the Provinces.;

b) Service taxes

c) Taxes on capital and wealth of trading individuals, Companies and corporations;

d) Betting taxes and taxes on prize competitions and lotteries;

e) Fees and taxes on the possession, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors, including excise taxes on productions and toddy tapping and selling license fees, liquor bar and tavern license fees;

f) Excise taxes on items of productions and manufactures except those excluded by the Parliament (in this matter the Parliament can devolve the powers on the basis of the size of the industries as if the Provincial Govt. shall have power of taxing excise taxes on productions and manufactures made by factories / industries of less than 50 workers);

g) Motor vehicle registration and license fees;

h) Dealership license fees and taxes on drugs and other chemicals;

i) Duties and Taxes on transfer of movable and immovable properties within the Province

j) Toll collections;

k) Taxes on agricultural and farm incomes;

l) Fees and fines charged under any act or ordinance related with the matters excluding those in the Central List;

m) Fees and fines imposed by Courts including stamp fees on documents produced in court;

n) Regulatory fees and charges on Weights and Measures;

o) All kinks of land revenues;

p) Taxes on movable and immovable private properties;

q) Taxes and license fees on mines and minerals, other than those declared by the Parliament law as the source for national income;

r) Estate duties and taxes on plantation excluding those of tea, rubber and coconut;

s) Taxes on goods entering into or exiting from the Province;

t) All types of road taxes;

u) Taxes on entertainments and amusements;

v) Aids and grants and loans meant for programs and projects of the Provincial Govt. from foreign individuals or private organizations, foreign countries or international donor organizations;

w) Public debts and grants from Sri Lankans abroad to the Provincial Govt. fund;

x) Funds and gifts collected from any individual or organization within the country, and public contributions collected from the people of the Province, for the programs or projects of the Provincial Govt.;

y) Net proceeds of the taxes collected by the Centre and transferred to the Province;

z) Taxes and fees on items other than those not mentioned in either list of devolution.


19b. Finance of the Centre:-

The following list reserves the sources of the Finance of the Central Govt.

1) Taxes on income of individuals, companies and corporations other than the taxes from agricultural and farm income;

2) Excise taxes, excluding those to be determined and collected by the Provincial Govt.;

3) Customs duties, including duties on import and export trade and commerce;

4) Taxes and duties on tea and tea estates;

5) Stamp fees and duties on matters in this list;

6) Taxes on transactions in stock exchange and future markets;

7) All the taxes on newspapers;

8) Income from public sector undertakings of the Central Govt.;

9) Funds, gifts and public deposits collected from individuals and organizations within the country for the programs or projects of the Central Govt.;

10) Grants and loans collected from abroad to Central Govt. fund.

11) Aids and grants from foreign individuals or private organizations, foreign countries and international aid organizations meant for the Central Govt. programs and projects;

12) Net proceeds of the taxes collected by the Province and transferred to the Centre.

13) Fees in respect of any matters in the Central / Union List, but not the fees taken in any court.


· Though the number of items for the financial income of the Centre comparatively may seem to be less than those in the Provincial List. But, in fact, the total capacity of the revenue receipts of the Central government is still much larger than the total sum of all the revenue receipts of all the Provincial governments since the three major sources of Govt. income, “Taxes on Income”, “Custom duties” and “Excise taxes (taxes on manufactures)”, are still retained by the Centre. A major share of the Central income, therefore, should be distributed to the Provinces according to the National Development Planning and the annual formula made by the National Finance Commission.

· Until the Provincial system is geared up to function fully and effectively, taking the extraordinary situation also into consideration, it is the responsibility of the Central Govt. to provide sufficient financial support to the Provincial states

· There may be an opinion that some of the important taxes must have uniformity through out the country. In such cases the Union govt. can make upper and lower limits to the Provincial determinations.


19c. National Economic Planning and Finance Commission (NEPFC)

The National Planning Commission and the National Finance Commission, function as two separate institutions in India. But, as far as Sri Lanka is concerned both can be together as National Economic Planning and Finance Commission (NEPFC). This commission should be headed by the Vice President as its ex-officio Chairperson and an eminent person can be appointed by the President as the Deputy Chairperson, with the status of a Cabinet Minister.

A provision must be enacted in the constitution so that a minimum of not less than 75% of the revenue from the income taxes, 50% of the revenue from the custom duties and 90% of the Social Security taxes should be distributed to the Provincial States, without any mandatory conditions. The formula for distribution of these revenues among the Provincial States shall be determined by the NEPFC after the annual discussions with the Provincial governments.

To determine the distribution formula, the NEPFC should consider the population size, the poverty rate and backwardness of the Provinces, the need for the on-going development programmes, etc. However, the year to year variation in ratio of distribution cannot be made so large as it may affect the management of recurring revenue expenditures.

The NEPFC shall recommend the basics and specifics for grants and credits to the Provincial States from the net revenue of the Union State

The NEPFC shall coordinate all the economic planning of the Union and the Provincial governments and prepare the National Economic Planning and policies. This commission shall be the coordinator and monitor of the implementation of the plans and make recommendations to the Union and the Provincial governments on the matters related to the plan implementations.


20. Ethnic Proportion in the State Establishments

The Constitution should establish the principal that, at least a minimum of the ethnic proportion of the minority communities in the country shall be maintained in,

1) The National Defense and Central Security Forces,

2) The Central police Forces,

3) The Central government Service, and

4) The Semi Government Service

Correspondingly, every Provincial State should also establish the maintenance of the provincial level ethnic proportion in providing employment and other opportunities in their respective Provinces.

The National Minority Communities have been placed at very minimal percentages in the above sectors. After 1987, the successive Governments, which have made so many promises in resolving ethnic conflict, have not initiated any corrective measure on this aspect. However, the present Govt. should, in order to rectify the prevailing imbalances, 1) make necessary provisions in the Constitutional proposal, and 2) take steps immediately to formulate and implement an urgent program to fill prevailing huge gap in the state-services.


20a. To Build Real “National Security Force”

Unless the Sri Lankan armed forces are transformed away from the present status of being “Sinhala armed forces” to the real “National (nationally representing) Security Forces”, then, building, of real united Sri Lanka shall be impossible by mere Constitutional reforms or some concessions. Sri Lankan Armed Forces establishment should intake youths of all communities in substantial proportions and made to interact with each other cohesively and effectively, then only it would be able to function impartially with regard to the interests of all the communities in Sri Lanka; then only, the minority nationalities also shall begin to feel that the State Armed Forces are “their forces”.

It may be argued that achieving the said goal is not possible in the short run. However, the Government should accept the need for change in principle and actively work towards it by constantly involving the leaders of minority communities. It may take time. However, it can and needs to be achieved, step by step.

It may be accepted that allowing the Tamil parties who accept electoral politics to have arms and armed cadres, is inevitable, due to the existing terror situation, for their self-defence and protection mainly from LTTE. Here and there, a few hundred members of different Tamil groups may work along with the armed forces in the North-East. These moves, shall, in no way, transform the situation and in practice have increased alienation of these groups politically and socially from their own communities.

There is no doubt that immediate priority is to deal with the LTTE militarily. But the building up of Sri Lankan Armed forces reflecting and representing the nation’s diversity is a basic need for the country’s long-term objectives and stability and that alone shall make the armed forces to be able to deal effectively and easily not only with the LTTE but also with any extreme anti – people and anti – social forces.

There is, in some quarters, an apprehension that the LTTE will do its best to infiltrate and implant its informants and cadres into the establishment of the armed forces. By keeping this apprehension in mind, preventing or hesitating to recruit the Tamil youths into the Armed forces are not correct. Instead, checks and balances have to be formulated and implemented effectively. It is to be established that the Tamil youths are not discriminated communally. The checks and balances should be applied in common and discreetly, since the past experiences show that among the recruits from Sinhala youths too, there were infiltrators and deserters. For any reason, keeping Tamil youths away from the armed forces shall further and further alienate the Tamils and be immensely helpful to the LTTE and the Sinhala extremists. It will further keep the Tamil masses away from any attempt at integrating the different communities in the country.

EPRLF, therefore, emphasize a large scale induction of Tamil youths into the Sri Lankan Armed forces is very essential by all considerations.


20b. Ethnic Proportion in the Civil and other Services

Civil administrative and other services also have such heavy imbalances, mainly at higher level, primarily due to the war situation, lasting now more than 15 years, in addition to the systematic and discreet manipulations of earlier Governments and the bureaucracy. Even to this date, no effective attempt is taken to remove this discrepancy. The quantum of ethnic imbalance in all the services should be identified clearly and fully and measures of rectification must be initiated genuinely and decisively with a will and determination.

Normal procedures and processes, in an extra – ordinary situation and condition, do not allow the Govt. to achieve these goals. So the Govt. should pay special attention and implement programmes so as to reach the targets in time.

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Annexure -01

Central List

The Subjects, on which Legislative Powers exclusively rest with the parliament

1. National Defense and National Security Forces:-

a) Defense of Sri Lanka and every part thereof, including preparation for defense and all such acts as may be conductive in times of war to its prosecution and after its prosecution and after its termination of effective demobilisation;

b) Naval, military and air forces; any other armed forces of the Government of Sri Lanka;

c) deployment of any armed force of the Government of Sri Lanka or any other force subject to the control of the Government of Sri Lanka or any contingent or unit thereof in any Province in aid of the civil power, jurisdiction, privileges and liabilities of the members of such development;

d) Delimitation of cantonment areas, and control and regulation within such areas;

e) Naval, military and air force works; and

f) National Security Commission.

2. The Central police :-

a) The Central Police forces, their establishments, maintenance, administration, deployments and functions;

b) Central intelligence and Central Department of Investigations;

c) Protection of railway, air services and the industries established by the Centre;

d) Preventive detention for reasons connected with National Security and foreign affairs;

e) Central Police Commission

3. Currency, coinage, notes, other kinds of money, legal tender and foreign exchange;

4. Bills of exchange, promissory notes;

5. Fiscal policy and measures

6. Central Bank of Sri Lanka;

7. Regulations and control of Commercial banking, insurance and other financial institutions;

8. Regulations of stock exchange and futures markets;

9. External affairs:- all matters which bring Sri Lanka into relation with any foreign country;

10. Offences against the law of the nations committed on the high seas or in the air.

11. Adoption of children by foreigners.

12. Citizenship, Naturalisation and Aliens

13. Regulation and Control of Trade and Commerce with other countries.

14. Regulation in maintaining and enhancing quality standards on productions to be exported.

15. Civil Aviation, Air Ways and Aerodromes.

16. Train Transports, Railways and Railway stations.

17. Harbours and Ports with international trade and transportation.

18. Regulation of Shipping and Navigation:-

19. Light house, light ships, beacons and buoys.

20. Postal and Telecommunications.

21. National Media including Central Broad Casting and Television.

22. Arms, Ammunitions and Explosives.

23. Generation of Atomic Energy and Hydro power.

24. Maintenance and Management of Central Power Grid.

25. Regulations and Development of Fuel Oil Fields, Petroleum and Petroleum products and Mines and Mineral resources specifically listed by the Parliament.

26. National Highways (defined super grade highways connecting District Capitals one to another) and bridges and ferries thereon.

27. Provision of regulation on inter – Provincial Transport:-

a) On carriage of passengers or goods between Colombo and other Provinces; and

b) On carriage of passengers or goods beyond adjoining Provinces.


28. Educations :-

a) Schools funded and administered by the Central Govt;

b) Universities funded and administered by the Central Govt;

c) Establishing and managing institutes on education, technologies, fisheries, business management and industrial research and training etc;

d) Examinations for National General Certifications;

e) National Education Commission :- composed or representative of the Centre and the Provinces entrusted with the following functions:-

(i) formulating basic standards of Central Govt.’s Secondary l schools and universities, and identifying them from each Province in concurrence with the relevant Chief Minister. And, stipulating criteria for admission into these schools and universities and supervising them.

(ii) setting minimum standards for the secondary school teachers training, education, curriculum and recruitment and

(iii) providing guidelines to maintain a common national standard relating to the Professional educations and trainings.

29. Development of Sports and Sports Infrastructure at National level.

30. Regulating Inter – Provincial Supply and Distribution of specified Essential Items like Wheat flour, Sugar, Tea, Salt, Coconut, Fertilizers, Cement and Paper.

31. Any Activity beyond Territorial Waters.

32. Tea plantation.

33. Central health administration:-

a) Existing special purpose hospitals;

b) Teaching hospitals affiliated to the Universities administered by the Central Government;

c) General regulation on production and distribution of medicines;

34. Regulation and Control on Drugs, Poisons and Narcotics.

35. National Archives and National Museums and Archaeological Sites declared by the Parliament to be of National Importance.

36. Incorporation, regulation and judicial winding up of corporations, whether trading or non-trading,;

37. Establishment of National Standard on Weights and Measures.

38. Specially Planned Housing program and National Poverty Alleviation Program:-

a) These programs are whole country based and formulated and planned in consultation with the Chief Ministers and funded by the Central Govt;

b) Determination of and distribution to the beneficiaries shall be made by the concerned Provincial Govt; and

c) Execution of these programs within the Province shall be done by the concerned Provincial Govt.

39. Assistance and Intervention in instances of Natural Calamities or Environmental Disasters and Epidemics.

40. National Surveys and Surveys for the purpose of any matter in this List.

41. National Organisations for the Astronomical and the Meteorological Observations.

42. Projects on the Inter- Provincial Rivers :-

a) Setting a formula of water and power distribution from the concerned projects, among the relevant Provinces;

b) Planning and construction of dam projects in concurrence with the relevant Chief ministers of the Provinces through which the river flows; and

c) Mediating on water resources disputes between the Provinces and providing a fair solution.

43. National Census and Statistics.

44. National Economic Planning and Finance Commission (NEPFC).

45. Audit of the Union and Provincial States

46. Commissioner General of Elections and Elections other than those mentioned in the Provincial list.

47. The Supreme Court and the High Courts.

48. Criminal law including all matters included in the penal code but excluding offences against laws with respect to any of the matters specified in the Provincial list.

49. Criminal procedures.

50. Civil laws and Civil procedures

51. Contempt of Courts

52. Bankruptcy and insolvency

53. Administrative System of the Union Government to implement the matters in this list.

54. Sri Lankan Administrative Service SLAS) and Sri Lankan Police Service (SLPS).

55. Central Public Services and the Central Public Service Commission and determination of cadres to the All Sri Lanka Services and the Central Services.

56. Public Sector Undertakings of the Central Govt.

57. Labour Welfare:-

a) National policy on labour welfare and labour disputes;

b) Regulation of labour safety in health hazardous and physically dangerous industries;

c) Industrial disputes concerning employees of the Central Govt. and its public sector undertakings.

58. Copy Rights, Patents on Inventions and Designs, Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks.

59. Central Budget.

60. Public Grants and debts of the Central Govt.

61. Foreign Aid and Foreign Investment Program of the Central Govt. and the National Policy making on Foreign Aid and Foreign Investment.

62. Income from the Public Sector Undertakings of the Central Govt.

63. Lotteries Organized on the whole country basis.

64. Properties of the Central Govt. and Revenue there from.

65. Pensions payable by the Central Govt. or out of its Consolidated Fund.

66. Salaries and Allowances of Members, and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament.

67. Powers, Privileges and Immunities of the Parliament and the Members and the Committees of Parliament; Enforcement of attendance of persons for giving evidence or producing documents before Committees of the Parliament or Commissions appointed by the Parliament.

68. Emoluments, allowances, Privileges and Rights in respect of Leave of absence, of the President and the Governors: Salaries and Allowances of the Ministers of the Central Govt; the Salaries and Allowances and Rights in respect of leave of absence and other conditions of service of the Chief Justice, the Commissioner General of Elections and the Chief of Auditor Generals

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Annexure -02

Provincial List

Subjects on which the Legislative powers,exclusively vested with the Provincial Legislative Council

01. Provincial Public Administration:

a) Formation constitution, organisation and reorganisation and regulation of the

1) Ministerial Secretariats of the Provincial Govt.

2) Departmental Secretariats of the Ministries; and

3) District Secretariats and Provincial line Ministries organisations at district level and below down to the Grama service sub-divisions as if Provincial Govt. fees that it can perform its duties and responsibilities satisfactorily;

b) Appointments, Postings, Transfers and Disciplinary control of administrators of the administrations, who are serving anywhere under the Provincial Govt. either they are of the Sri Lankan Service or Provincial Service;

c) Re-demarcation of boundaries of the existing districts, AGA divisions and Grama sub-division according to the convenience of administration of the Province.

d) Creating and naming new districts in concurrence with the National Economic Planning and Finance Commission.

e) To create newly, naming or renaming any A.G.A division or Grama sub-division.

02. Provincial Services, Provincial Public Service Commission (P.P.S.C) and Determination of cadres to the Provincial services.

03. Law and public order and Provincial Police:-

a) Formation, constitution, organisation, administration, regulation and control of Provincial police forces consisting of Provincial Civil Police, Provincial Special Armed Police, Provincial Volunteer Force, Provincial bureau of investigations, Provincial intelligence bureau and other institutions regarded with enforcing the laws and the public order in the Province;

b) Preservation of public order within the Province and prevention, detection, investigation and institution of prosecution in the relevant Courts in respect of all offences except the offences specified below:-

1) Offences against the President, the Prime Minister, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament and any Minister of the Centre;

2) Offences against any higher level Public officer specified by the parliament;

3) Offences committed against coinage currency, and government stamps;

4) Offences against the defense forces, and

5) International crimes.

c) Provincial Police Commission;

d) Administer and control the personnel of the Central forces made available and place them under the C.M seeks the assistance of the Central Police Forces or of the Armed Forces or both to preserve the public order within the Province;

e) Determination of number of cadres and provision of all facilities and necessities excluding the fire - arms and ammunitions, to the Provincial police forces.

f) Prisons, Reformatories, and other institutions of like nature, excluding the prisons of the Central Govt.

04. Development Planning of the Province; including,

a) Planning and Implementation of Provincial socio-economic development plans and programs;

b) Formulation of the plan strategies and appraisal of the implementations;

c) Directing and controlling the progress of the plans;

d) Monitoring progress of public and private sector investments in the Province, and evaluation of the performance of institutions and enterprises engaged in economic activities in the Province;

05. Land and Land Development, Acquisition, Requisition, Alienation and Settlement:-

Land, that is to say, rights in over land, land tenure, land contracts, alienation of land, acquisition and requisition of land, land use, land settlement and land improvement and development, including such as:-

1) Registrations, records and administration of all land within the Province.

2) All state land within the Province shall be vested with the Provincial Govt.

3) The Provincial Govt. shall administer, control and utilise state land within the Province for its purposes.

4) Land may be disposed of by the Provincial authorities in accordance with the relevant laws and statutes made available by the Provincial Legislative Council.

5) State land within the Province required by the Govt. of the Centre in respect of the reserved subjects shall be utilised by the Centre with the concurrence of the Provincial Govt.. However for the purposes of National Defense and Security, if there is no compromise between the Centre and the Provincial Governments, then that may immediately be resolved by a special decree/order by the President after hearing both the parties and the President within fourteen days of his order shall establish a Tribunal to finalise all the details related with the disputes.

6) Where ethnic demographic imbalance have been created through schemes of Land settlement since 1970, priority in future land allocations in those areas shall be given to correcting such imbalances and restoring the status quo ante with regard to the ethnic demographic proportions of the Districts in the North-East Province.

7) Any State –Aided land settlement scheme pertaining to settlement of Sinhalese in the North-East implemented after 1981, shall be dismantled.

06. Irrigation, Irrigation Canals and Distributaries within the Province:-

1) Planning, designing, implementation, supervision and maintenance of irrigation schemes and project works within the Province, other than planning, designing and construction of dam projects on projects on inter-Provincial rivers.

2) Regulation and Control of Irrigation and Construction and Administration of all Irrigation Canals and Distributaries within the Province;

3) Water storage and management, drainage and embankment and flood protection and planning and implementation of increasing and improvement of water resources.

07. Agriculture and Agrarian Services:-

1) Agriculture, including agricultural extension, promotion and education for Provincial purposes and agricultural services;

2) Promotion, planning and implementation of the agricultural development plan of the tanks and ponds within the Province;

3) Establishment and promotion of agro - linked industries;

4) Agricultural research and training institutions within the Province;

5) Agricultural farms and nurseries;

6) Soil conservation;

7) Promotion and development of new and improved agricultural engineering and technology;

8) Plant pests. and

9) Regulation and control on use of pesticides and insecticides within the Province.

08. Forests, Forestry and Environmental Protection within the Province in conformity with the National policy of the Central Govt. on Maintenance of Ecological and Environmental Balance.

09. Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Services and Veterinary Hospitals and Dispensaries and Prevention of Cruelty to the Animals.

10. Fisheries within the Territorial Water including regulation and control on Migratory Fishing.

11. Internal Harbours and Ports.

12. Education and Educational Services: including,

A) Matters related with all schools within the Province, other than the schools of the Central Govt:-

1) Establishment, management, supervision and provision of facilities to the Govt. schools;

2) Regulation control and supervision of all pre- schools and any private school;

3) Recruitment, appointment, transfer and disciplinary control of educational personnel within the Province, i.e, teachers, principals and education officers and subordinate staffs.

4) Training of teachers including conducting in-service training program to the educational personnel;

5) Preparation and implementation of educational development plan of the Province;

6) Regulation, construction and maintenance of all educational building, libraries and play grounds and other infra-structural facilities of the govt. schools;

7) Procurement and distribution of teaching aids, visual aids and audio visual materials, science laboratory equipment and necessaries, furniture and other needs to the government schools;

8) Production of purchasing and distribution or permitting school text books;

9) Scholarship and educational awards.

B) Examinations:-

1. Conducting of examinations for the Provincial General Certificates; and

2. Providing field organisation to conduct the examinations for the National General Certificates;

3. Formulation of curricula in keeping with the guidelines made available by the National Education Commission; and

4. Implementation of adult and non- formal education.

13. Higher Education inclusive of,

1) Universities other than the Universities of the Centre;

2) Degree awarding institutes of professional, education, agriculture, fisheries, technologies, co-operatives, industrial research and training, and so on at Provincial level;

3) Existing technical colleges and those of newly established by the Provincial Govt.;

4) School for training Auxiliary Medical Personnel.

5) Planning and implementation of Distant Education.

6) Motor Vehicles and Motor Traffic: including a) rules and regulations, b) Provincial registration, c) License to the vehicles and for driving or riding; and d) Taxes to be levied on them.

14. Local Governments :-

1) Formation and constitution of all forms of Local Governments within the Province, powers and functions of authorities of such governments and supervision and control over them.

2) Election for the Local Governments

3) Delimitation of cities, towns and villages;

4) Planning and construction of new towns and villages;

5) Naming and renaming of towns, villages and all kinds of roads excluding the National highways.

15. Housing and Construction: including

1) Planning of Provincial Housing Programs;

2) Executing, coordinating, supervising and monitoring all the housing programs and projects of the Provincial Govt. as well as the Central Govt. within the Province.

3) Determining the distribution of the houses constructed by the Govt. including the houses built under the specialised housing program of the Central Govt.;

4) Regulation and control of all the housing construction within the Province;

5) Aided self help housing and housing loans;

6) Regulation and control of all mines and quarries of building and construction materials;

7) Protection of tenants and determination of rent.

16. Urban Development :-

1) Promotion of integrated planning of economic, social and physical development of urban areas;

2) Designing and implementation of expansion and extension, improvement and new plans of cities, towns and other urban agglomerations within the Province;

3) Control and regulation of all constructions within the Province.

17. Administration of Health:-

1) The establishment, administration and maintenance of all public hospitals, rural hospitals, maternity homes dispensaries(other than the hospitals attached with the Universities of the Central Govt. and the existing special purpose hospitals);

2) Public health services, health education, nutrition, family health, maternity and child health;

3) Formulation and execution of Health Development Plan for the Province;

4) Medicines including indigenous medicines;

5) Medical services and medical institutions, including supervision of private medical care and control of nursing homes and of diagnostic facilities, within the Province.

6) Establishment and promotion and regulation and control of Ayurvedic and other Oriental Medical dispensaries and Hospitals;

7) Awarding of Scholarships for in –service education including Post- Graduate education, for the personnel of the Provincial Medical Service;

8) Maintenance and procurement of medicines and medical stock.


18. Public Health and Sanitation:- including

1) Drinking water supply;

2) Sewerages;

3) Preventive health activities;

4) Health care regulations and control;

5) Food sanitation and environment health and

6) Promotion of health and hygienic awareness.

19. Roads (excluding National Highways as specified in the Central List) and Internal Water Ways. Bridges and ferries thereon and regulation and control of Carriage of Passengers and Goods on all kinds of Roads within the Province.

20. Surface Transport Services excluding those of Railway within the Province;

21. All the matters related with Electricity and other Energy excluding those mentioned in the Central List.

22. Industries and industrial Development of the Province:- such as

1) Promotion of industrial development of the Province;

2) Formulating and implementing industrial development plan of the Province;

3) Promotion and Regulation of Foreign Investments in the Province with the concurrence of the Central Government’s policy and in compliance with the related law of the parliament;

4) Regulating, controlling, supervising and monitoring all the industries and the public sector units of the Provincial state; and

5) Promoting industrial education, research and training.

23. Mines and Minerals excluding those specifically declared by the Parliament.

24. Rural Development, including Rural Development Programs aided by the International Organisations.

25. Employment :-

1) Employment planning and implementation at Provincial level;

2) Special Employment Programs related to the Province;

3) Promotion of Youth employment activities relating to the Province; and

4) Technical manpower development program in relation to the Province.

26. Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and Social Services:-

1) Restoration, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of towns, villages, public institutions and their properties destroyed or damaged;

2) Granting of compensation or relief to persons or institutions who have sustained loss or damage;

3) Relief, rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced and disabled persons;

4) Relief of distress due to war, cyclone, epidemics or other exceptional causes and of those affected;

5) Probation and child care services;

6) Rehabilitation of destitute families;

7) Welfare of physically, mentally and socially handicapped persons;

8) Social Insurance and other Basic Social Securities;

9) Care of unemployed.


27. Promotion, Development and Regulation of Tourism in the Province in accordance with the National policy made available by the Parliament.

28. Lagoons, bays and Beaches within the Province.

29. Hotels, Motels, Inns, and all Circuit Bungalows and Rest houses.

30. Promotion and Development of Arts, Literature and Cultural Activities within the Province.

31. Co-operatives and all the matters related with, including Co-operative Banks and Co-operative societies and Elections to them.

32. Maintenance, Supply, Distribution, Procurement and Rationing and Rationing of Food and Food Stock within the Province.

33. Markets and Fairs in the Province.

34. Regulation and control on Wholesale and Retail business places, Warehouses and Go-downs.

35. Surveys relating to the matters enumerated in this list.

36. Incorporation, Regulation and Judicial Winding up of Corporations, Companies whether Trading or Non-Trading, with objects to have Establishments and Business within the Province.

37. Women and Youth Affairs in accordance with the National Policy made by the Parliament

38. Trade Union Activities, Welfare of the Laborers and Labour Disputes within the Province, excluding the Labourers of the factories and other Institutions administered by the Central Government.

39. Broadcasting and Media, including Television, in compliance with the Regulation made by the Parliament.

40. Provinces and Religious Places within the Province;-

1) maintenance of historical places and their sacred environment;

2) Upholding equal rights on different worships and beliefs;

3) Preserving peace and tranquility between different religious life;

4) Promotion and regulation of festivals and exhibitions.

41. Recreations:- including ,

1) Regulation and control on cinema halls and theaters of entertainments and other amusements;

2) Encouragement and development of holiday retreats and resorts;

3) Establishment and development of recreational parks and grounds;

4) Promotion and regulation of festivals and exhibitions.

42. Sports and sports infrastructure within the Province.

43. Archaeology:-

Archaeological activities including survey and excavations of archaeological sites within the Province in cooperation with the National Archaeological Society and maintaining and preserving archaeological sites and remains, other than those declared by Parliament to be preserved by the Central Govt..

44. Promotion and Development of Libraries and Establishment and Administration of Public Libraries and the Provincial Library Service.

45. Provincial Archives, Museums and Monuments within the Province, excluding the National Museum and National War Memorials.

46. Development and Regulation of Printing and Publications excluding Daily and Weekly Newspapers and printings and publications of the Central Govt.

47. Regulation of unincorporated Non-Trading Literary

48. Domestic and International Borrowings by the Provincial Government within the Conditions specified by the Central Govt.

49. The Regulation and Promotion of Foreign Aid and Foreign Direct Investment to the Province.

50. Provincial Financial and Credit Institutions in accordance with the Regulations of the Centre.

51. Provincial Budget.

52. Provincial Census and Statistics.

53. Price Control and Regulations on Goods other than those specified by the Parliament for the Central Govt. to control.

54. Direct Investments and Economic Activities :- including

1) Provincial public sector undertakings,

2) Export and Import activities under the regulations of the parliament,

3) Establishing business undertakings of banking, insurance, shipping and so on in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Centre.

55. Regulation and Control on Pawn Brokers and Informal Money lending and Money Lenders.

56. Production, possession, Transport, Purchase and Sale of Intoxicating Liquors and all the other matters related with.

57. Determination and Collection of Taxes, Duties and Fees and other Revenue of the Provincial Govt.,

58. Pensions payable by the Govt. of the Province out of the Consolidated Fund of the Province.

59. Salaries and Allowances of the Members, and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Legislative Council.

60. Powers, Privileges and immunities of the Provincial Legislative Council, and of the Members and the Committees of the Council; Enforcement of Attendance of Persons for giving evidences or producing documents before Committees of the Council or Commissions appointed by the Council.

61. Emoluments, Allowances, Privileges and Rights of the Chief Minister and other Minister of the Govt. of the Province; and the Emoluments, Allowances and Rights in respect of leave of absence and other Conditions of Service of the Public Servants who are recruited and Appointed by the Govt. of the Province.

62. Internal Audit of the Accounts of the Provincial Government.

63. Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths.

64. Marriage or Divorce; Infants and Minors; Adoption; Wills; Intestacy and Succession; and Personal Law in accordance with the Laws made by the Parliament.

65. Transfer of Property; Registration of Deeds and Documents within the Province.




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