Devolution in the Northern Province

1..Introduction.
Though!the!Thirteenth!Amendment!is!intended!as!the!solution!to!the!“national!question”,!that!of!
accommodating!minority!ethnicities’!autonomy!within!a!pluralist!Sri!Lankan!state,!it!was!those!
very! communities! who! were! deprived! longest! of! the! recourse! to! its! provisions.! The! Eastern!
Province! elected! its! >irst! Provincial! Council! after! eighteen! years! of! direct! central! rule.! The!
Northern!Province!was!not!as!fortunate,!forced!to!wait!>ive!years!longer!than!the!East!to!test!
>inally,!in!September!2013,!the!mechanisms!of!the!provincial!council!system!that,!by!its!original!
design,!were!to!settle!their!problems!of!majoritarian!marginalisation!and!discrimination.!That!
the!election!came!after!a!four9year!delay!since!the!end!of!the!armed!struggle!only!added!insult!to!
injury.!!
From!the!statements!by!the!TULF!dismissing!it!in!the!late!Eighties,!to!those!calling!on!the!TNA!to!
boycott! the! Eastern! Provincial! Council! elections! in! 2008,! a! majority! of! the! rhetorical!
pronouncements!on!the!Thirteenth!Amendment!are!connected!by!the!underlying!theme!that!it!
does!not!meet!the!aspirations!of!the!Tamil!people!living!in!Sri!Lanka.!By!contrast,!the!argument!
that!the!Thirteenth!Amendment!gives!too!much!power!to!Provincial!Councils!–!particularly!in!
relation!to!land!and!police!powers,!and!the!merger!of!the!provinces!–!and!is,!thus,!a!stepping!
stone!for!secession!has!been!articulated!in!the!South!for!decades!in!order!to!justify!reneging!on!
the!Amendment’s!promises.!
At! the! root! of! this! stark! divergence! of! opinion! lay! the! reality! that! there! is! a! fundamental!
disagreement! about! the! nature! of! the! Sri! Lankan! state! (how! it! was! and! how! it! should! be),!
between! different! ethnic! communities.! It! has! to! be! acknowledged! that! this! divide! colours! the!
manner!in!which!different!groups!will!perceive!certain!realities!relating!to!devolution!of!power,!
and!that!this!divide!cannot!be!easily!bridged.!However,!part!of!the!problem!has!also!been!the!
lack! of! an! understanding! of! how! much! or! how! little! autonomy! the! Thirteenth! Amendment!
actually! allows,! even! when! stretched! to! its! limits.! Accordingly,! this! policy! brief! attempts! to!
provide! a! commentary! on! the! Northern! Provincial! Council,! contextualising! the! theoretical!
foundations!of!devolution!with!the!actual!experiences!of!the!Council!during!its!>irst!year!and!half!
of!existence.!!
The!study!limits!itself!to!this!period,!spanning!September!2013!to!February!2015,!in!terms!of!
fact9>inding.! However,! commentary! on! the! broader! political! issues! that! undergird! those!
experiences,! of! necessity,! reached! beyond! that! period.! Furthermore,! the! shifts! in! the! ground!
situation!of!the!Northern!Province!after!the!change!of!regime!in!January!2015,!whilst!important!
and!worthy!of!analysis,!were!generally!avoided!in!this!publication!for!two!main!reasons:!>irstly,!
of>icials,! both! old! and! new,! are! in! the! process! of! acclimatising! themselves! to! the! changing!
political!environment.!Secondly,!there!were!practical!limitations!of!time.!
The!rest!of!the!policy!brief!is!separated!into!>ive!chapters:!an!analysis!of!the!impact!of!political!
rhetoric! on! devolution;! the! experiences! of! the! provincial! public! service;! issues! relating! to!
provincial! >inance! and! >iscal! devolution;! judicial! pronouncements! relating! to! devolution! that!
affected!the!NPC;!and,!>inally,!the!conclusion,!with!the!recommendations!arising!therefrom.!!
In!terms!of!the!legal!and!constitutional!background!of!the!Thirteenth!Amendment,!we!note!the!
abundance!of!literature!available!on!the!subject!of!devolution!in!Sri!Lanka,!including!a!number!
of!publications!by!CPA,!that!focus!on!the!theoretical!aspects!of!the!Sri!Lankan!system!in!great!
detail.! Accordingly,! most! legal! provisions! are! recapitulated! here! only! to! the! extent! they! are!
necessary!and!relevant!to!the!understanding!of!the!unique,!practical!experiences!of!the!Council!
! 3