Premadasa makes 'U' turn on PTA
In Sri Lankan politics, changing party colours often or making 'U' turns on critical policies for one’s own political convenience is not something new when the ultimate goal is securing votes and retaining your seat. It could be one of the reasons why we have had only a handful of statespersons and plentiful of run of the mill politicians in our recent political history.
One such complete ' U' turn was witnessed this week when Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa declared in a letter to Tamil National Alliance ( TNA) spokesperson M. A. Sumanthiran stating that the Prevention of Terrorism ( Temporary Provisions) Act No 48 of 1979 (PTA) should be abolished completely without tinkering with the law and only making amendments to the substantive law.
Coinciding with United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in the past few weeks and the report from the UN Human Rights chief on the continuous use of the PTA, the TNA is leading a country- wide campaign with progressive forces in the south to repeal the Act.
"We find that none of the many weaknesses of the PTA are addressed by the proposed amendments that have been placed on the Order Paper of Parliament. Therefore, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya ( SJB) rejects the proposed amendments in total. Our position is that the PTA cannot be tinkered with. It must be repealed, and a law that accords with international standards and effectively balances public and national security, and personal liberty must re p l a c e it", the Opposition Leader said while stressing that this law was enacted as a temporary provisions act for six months in 1979, but has remained in statute books for 43 years and 12 years after the northern insurgency came to an end.
Not so long ago, addressing a rally in Ampara weeks after the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019, Mr. Premadasa, who was then Housing Construction and Cultural Affairs Minister reiterated that the PTA must be strengthened while suggesting that the then Ya h a p a l a n a y a (Good Governance) Administration in which he was a fairly prominent member should suspend the reforming process of the law by replacing the PTA with a Counter Terrorism Act (CTA).
Instead, he said; "I believe the moves taken to put forward the Counter Terrorism Act must be halted following the April 21 terror attacks which have marked the beginning of global terrorism in the country." He emphasised that the PTA which played a supporting role in defeating terrorism which existed for three decades in the country, must be strengthened even further.
At that time, Mr. Premadasa had his own reasons to take such a stand: "The Armed Forces and the Police were able to take swift measures against those allegedly involved in the Easter Sunday attacks, because of the PTA. We can't expect these officers to control terrorism by tying their hands behind their backs."
In his more recent letter, the Opposition Leader also came up with recommendations as well. He is of the view that the 2016 proposals of the Sri Lanka Law Commission, a body comprising eminent members of Sri Lanka's legal fraternity, be adopted as the starting point to repeal and replace the current PTA.
Commenting on the 'U' turn by the Opposition Leader, a Jaffna based political observer said the shift is clearly a political move to secure minority votes at the next Presidential polls. Whether that will be at the expense of losing the southern votes remains to be seen.