{"id":81144,"date":"2013-04-07T11:34:18","date_gmt":"2013-04-07T11:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=81144"},"modified":"2013-04-12T19:03:37","modified_gmt":"2013-04-12T19:03:37","slug":"the-llrc-and-devolution-jehan-paikiasothy-and-politics-of-skipping-the-caveats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-llrc-and-devolution-jehan-paikiasothy-and-politics-of-skipping-the-caveats\/","title":{"rendered":"The LLRC And Devolution: Jehan, Paikiasothy And Politics Of Skipping The caveats"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

When the Government proposed setting up a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC<\/a>), there were howls of protests from the likes of Jehan Perera<\/a><\/span> and Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 Many of these I\/NGO operators didn\u2019t even appear before the LLRC perhaps fearing that the commissioners would ask them to submit in full their various comments to the media, in the form of statement or political commentary.\u00a0 When the LLRC finally came out with a \u2018Report\u2019, they changed their tune.\u00a0 They said \u2018Implement the LLRC Recommendation!\u2019<\/p>\n

They forgot, conveniently, that the LLRC had exceeded its mandate.\u00a0 That\u2019s ok.\u00a0 A lot of people, after all, are happy to \u2018exceed\u2019.\u00a0 More importantly, they appear to be blissfully unaware of two things. Firstly, that the LLRC was a far cry from a body enacted to draft a constitution. Secondly, some of the recommendations require constitutional amendment and even referenda.\u00a0 A third \u2018forget\u2019 can be added: the Government is not bound (as per the mandate-limitation) to implement all of the recommendations.\u00a0 There\u2019s can-do and cannot-do in all this. There is, moreover, \u2018done\u2019, \u2018doing\u2019 and \u2018forget it\u2019 too.\u00a0 There is wanted-speed and doable speed.<\/p>\n

What has excited these ladies and gentlemen, and of course some members of the Opposition, is the inclusion of the word \u2018devolution<\/a><\/span>\u2019.\u00a0 True, it\u2019s not \u2018federalism<\/a><\/span>\u2019, that F-word dominating what passed for \u2018political discourse\u2019 when the reins of power were held by patently anti-Sinhala<\/a><\/span>, anti-Buddhist<\/a><\/span> and indeed pro-LTTE<\/a><\/span>, pro-Eelam<\/a><\/span> elements, but then again, in an LTTE<\/a><\/span>-les Sri Lanka of \u2018reduced circumstances\u2019, if \u2018straw\u2019 was sought, \u2018devolution\u2019 was good enough a cling-on.
\nWhat is most interesting is the fact that true to form, they have taken the LLRC recommendation on devolution totally out of context and have never once referred to the relevant caveats.\u00a0 They would do well to read the points elaborated in Section 9.231 of the LLRC Report, which reads, \u2018Devolution should necessarily be people-centric in nature\u2019 and is followed by 4 key caveats.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take these one by one.\u00a0 Caveat A imposes the condition of \u2018harmony\u2019.\u00a0 Now if devolution uses the current provincial boundaries (randomly drawn, let us not forget), which constitute the basis for the (diminished) Eelamist<\/a><\/span> demarcation, if the majority of Tamils people live outside the North and East (for example), how on earth can devolution along these chauvinist lines powered by myth-models and exaggeration inspire anything but suspicion and anxiety among the Sinhalese?\u00a0 They would consider such devolution as \u2018Threat to Existence\u2019!\u00a0 There won\u2019t be harmony. \u2018Oneness\u2019 would be wrecked.<\/p>\n

Caveat B speaks of empowerment.\u00a0 This is good. It calls for much better governance and greater affirmation of citizenship-meaning.\u00a0 One does not need \u2018devolution\u2019 for this and if any community feels disadvantaged then all that needs to be remembered is that the felt \u2018discrimination\u2019 will continue to prevail in the other seven provinces (where the majority of Tamils live).\u00a0 Devolution does not combat discrimination; better laws might.<\/p>\n

Caveat C is about human rights<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 The upholding or subverting of human rights has nothing to do with the structure of the state (for example, whether it is a federal, unitary or other arrangement).\u00a0 So Caveat C, like Caveat B, is an add-on that is not devolution-specific.<\/p>\n

Finally, Caveat D.\u00a0 It is about \u2018building on what we have\u2019, i.e. the local government institutions.\u00a0 It is about greater and meaningful participation.\u00a0 Such \u2018democracy,\u2019 again does not require devolution as per the 13th Amendment<\/a><\/span>, 13 Plus posturing etc., but about scripting in checks and balances into the relevant articles of the constitution.\u00a0 Caveat D also unequivocally salutes the need to \u2018provide for safeguarding the territorial integrity and unity of Sri Lanka whilst fostering its rich diversity\u2019. The devolution debate has gone too far with taking as \u2018fact\u2019 and \u2018legitimate\u2019 the extrapolations of Tamil chauvinism for any power-devolution to established provincial lines not be seen as a threat to territorial integrity and unity.<\/p>\n

Take all these caveats and power devolution to existing lines can be safely ruled out as \u2018not in line with LLRC recommendations\u2019.\u00a0 The only devolution that abides by these caveats, then, is a formulation that trashes current provincial boundaries and re-draws geographical units in more scientific (e.g. based on river-basins) ways with close attention to ensuring that no community, large or small, feels threatened.<\/p>\n

Given all this, one thing is clear: those who have been waving the LLRC Report have just seen one word, devolution.\u00a0 That, or else, they are intellectually dishonest.\u00a0 Take your pick!<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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