Never-ending APCs

Thursday 27th July, 2023

There have been umpteen all-party conferences (APCs) to explore ways and means of resolving Sri Lanka’s ethnic issues, and the latest one was held yesterday. The Opposition would have the public believe that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has undertaken to devolve more powers to the provinces in a bid to woo the Tamil votes with an eye to the next presidential election, but he is believed to be under pressure from New Delhi to implement the 13th Amendment fully.

The SLPP has specifically said that it enabled Wickremesinghe to secure the presidency, last year, to carry out three important tasks—restoring law and order, stabilising the economy and granting relief to the public. He has brought a semblance of order out of chaos, and is making a determined bid to break the back of the economic crisis; however, there has been no significant improvement in the people’s lot. So, he should remain obsessively focussed on reviving the economy, but he has undertaken to address the vexed question of devolution, which has the potential to cause trouble on the political front.

Devolution may not be the devil it is made out to be in some quarters, but it is no silver bullet that can resolve ethnic conflicts. Not even quasi-federalism has helped bring about ethnic harmony in India, which has taken upon itself the task of resolving Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict and is pontificating about the virtues of ethno-religious amity. India is troubled by ethnic tensions and violence more than Sri Lanka. Bloody clashes in Manipur are a case in point. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP governs Manipur and its Chief Minister Biren Singh has rejected calls for his resignation over the manner in which his government has handled the unfortunate situation.

It may be recalled that in the early noughties, the US denied Modi a visa following a massive wave of anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat, where he was the Chief Minister at the time, on the grounds that foreign government officials were considered ineligible for a visa should the State Department view them as “responsible for, or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” Today, Modi receives bear hugs from the US Presidents! The Human Rights Watch has said in a report: “India’s Hindu festivals are increasingly being used by the ruling Hindu majoritarian BJP led by PM Modi to rally voters, leading to an increase in violence. These mobs are emboldened by a sense of political patronage that affords them impunity … The BJP governments at every level have adopted discriminatory laws and policies targeting religious minorities, and its leaders and affiliates make frequent anti-minority remarks, including inciting violence.” There is no gainsaying that Sri Lanka has to sort out its ethnic problems, but shouldn’t PM Modi put his own house in order before asking others to solve their problems?

Interestingly, President Wickremesinghe is trying to implement the 13th Amendment fully, having postponed the Provincial Council (PC) elections. The Opposition is asking a very pertinent question: shouldn’t the much-delayed PC polls be held before talks are held on devolution? President Wickremesinghe has apparently sought to shoot two arrows with one bow, so to speak; by provoking a fresh debate on devolution and holding an APC, he has appeased New Delhi; at home, he has diverted public attention from the arbitrary postponement of the local government and PC elections and the government’s despicable efforts to tame the Election Commission.

Ironically, some of the political parties that attended yesterday’s APC are responsible for postponing the PC polls indefinitely and causing the PCs to be placed under the Governors, who are appointed by the President. The UNP, the SLFP, and the TNA, ably assisted by the JVP, which boycotted the APC yesterday, amended the PC Elections Act in the most reprehensible manner, in 2017, to put off the PC polls for political expediency. They have unwittingly strengthened the position of the opponents of devolution that the country can do without the PCs.

It is hoped that the government will get its priorities right and sort out the economy first without biting off more than it can chew and creating conditions for political upheavals in the process.