EPDP studying the bill to amend 13A
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an ally of the ruling coalition has appointed a committee headed by former MP Dr. S. Thavarajah to submit its observations on the bill to amend the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.
Have far reaching implications both in terms of preserving democratic values
EPDP leader Douglas Devananda told Daily Mirror yesterday that he appointed this committee to study the bill and its implications.
Mr. Devananda, the Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, is an advocate of the 13th Amendment. Also, his party is one among the Tamil militant groups that denounced violence and joined the democratic stream after the introduction of the 13th Amendment under the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord.
Through the proposed amendment, the government seeks to repeal the power for the amalgamation of two or more councils. Also, it seeks to repeal the clause in it that provides for Parliamentary to legislate on subjects allocated to the Provincial Councils only after the prior approval by all of them.
According to the proposed law, the majority
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an ally of the ruling coalition has appointed a committee headed by former MP Dr. S. Thavarajah to submit its observations on the bill to amend the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.
approval will be enough.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPC), in a statement said, the new bill sought to remove safeguards in Article 154(G) (3) of the Constitution to permit the centre to pass legislation in relation to subjects in the Provincial Council List by a simple majority provided that a majority of PCs agree to the said legislation.
Also, it says the bill, if enacted, would repeal Article 154(A) (3) which allowed Parliament to provide for two or three adjoining provinces to form one administrative unit.
“A constitution derives the moral authority to bind all citizens only if it is a result of a consultative process which takes into consideration all perspectives in a plural society. The proposed amendments have far reaching implications both in terms of preserving democratic values and achieving post-war reconciliation,” the CPA said.