By Shamindra Ferdinando

Chief Organiser of Lankalokaya and former Southern Provincial Council member Pasanda Yapa Abeywardena yesterday (19) urged major political parties/alliances to consider the abolition of the costly Provincial Council system as a priority.

Abeywardena asked them to take a clear stand on PCs introduced in terms of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that was enacted in the wake of the Indo-Lanka accord of July 29, 1987. The young politician, who is the current Chairman of Sathosa, said that a bankrupt country couldn’t continue to squander public funds on a system that didn’t benefit the people.

The incumbent Governor of the North Western Province Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena’s son, Pasanda, received the top job at Sathosa in early Aug 2022, within weeks after Ranil Wickremesinghe’s election by Parliament as the President.

Pasanda, who served as a member of the last Southern PC, said so addressing the media at Nippon Hotel. Former UNP lawmaker R.A.D. Sirisena and Attorney-at-Law Kanishka Basnayaka, too, explained why major political parties/alliances should publicly declare their intention to do away with PCs in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary polls scheduled for later this year and early next, respectively.

Referring to a statement issued by Milinda Moragoda, Sri Lanka’s former High Commissioner to India, recently, The Island asked them whether they had consulted the ex-minister regarding the issue before the media briefing. Pasanda Yapa said that they conversed with Moragoda and they were on the same page.

Pasanda Yapa quoted Moragoda as having told them that India wanted to address the north-east issue but didn’t pressure Sri Lanka over the continuation of PCs.

When The Island pointed out that India had repeatedly pressed Sri Lanka for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution even at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council over the years, Pasanda Yapa declined to comment claiming that it was a diplomatic matter.

At the onset of the briefing, Pasanda Yapa said that since the establishment of PCs in 1988, successive governments had allocated a staggering Rs. 7,000 bn for them. Of that amount approximately Rs. 5,000 bn or 71 percent had been recurrent expenditure, namely salaries, payments, etc., he said, adding that the government could divert available funds to meet vital needs by doing away with PCs.

Lankalokaya emphasised that Pradeshiya Sabhas could be strengthened and various other alternatives discussed to address the grievances of the people at the periphery.

They pointed out PCs were introduced at a time when the then JRJ government was under pressure to address the concerns of Tamil speaking people.

The media was told that they intended to address selected issues in the run-up to national elections. According to them, the campaign against PCs would be the launch of Lankalokaya initiative that would be discussed with various interested parties.

They compared the ongoing discussion on the abolition of the executive presidency with the push for doing away with PCs. Ex-Minister Sirisena, who had represented the first PC in the late 80s, said that it was a very heavy and unbearable burden on the people struggling to make ends meet.

Nationalist groups say that the executive presidency shouldn’t be abolished as long as PCs remain.