Anyone’s right to oppose or support the 13-A cannot be questioned. Minister Weerawansa is exercising his democratic right and has, we think, struck a responsive chord with many Sri Lankans who believe that the provincial system is a failure. The problem with the 13-A is that seriously flawed as it is, it continues to be considered, in some quarters, the panacea for the country’s ethnic ills perhaps for want of a better alternative. If the rights of all Sri Lankans regardless of their ethnicity, religion etc could be protected with equal opportunities provided to one and all, the need for such special mechanisms could be obviated. Apart from being an ambalama (wayfarers’ inn) for politicians rejected at general elections and a stepping stone for others aspiring to enter national politics, the provincial councils have not served the purpose of the general public. Before 1988, we had only two colonies of political leeches, one at the national level and the other at the grassroots level. Now, we have three to contend with!

However, the abolition of the 13-A is not as easy as the demolition of a wayside wall, given the tremendous pressure Sri Lanka has come under from India as well as the West. Some political analysts have attributed the failure of the provincial councils to the fact that they have all been controlled by the two main parties since the collapse of the North-East PC run by the pro-Indian EPRLF led by Vartharajah Perumal. And they believe that the Northern PC to be elected will make a difference with the TNA at its helm. The northerners, the proponents of devolution argue, have been discriminated against as they have been denied a constitutionally guaranteed right to elect a provincial council whereas their counterparts in all other provinces have exercised theirs.

The TNA has succeeded in having at its disposal a huge block vote in the North by whipping up nationalism. But, after the formation of an elected northern PC, which it stands a much better chance than others of controlling, the sobering political reality is sure to dawn. It will realise how difficult it is to live up to people’s expectations. People do not live by nationalism alone. Sri Lankan political system is notoriously patronage-driven. The TNA will also come under pressure from LTTE groups active overseas and Tamil Nadu politicians to pit its administration against the government from the word go and make the North ungovernable, of course, at the expense of the interests of the masses whose priorities are different from the separatists’.

The TNA has so far been free from any formidable political challenge from other Tamil parties propped up by the government in the North, but when public disillusionment sets in after the northern PC polls, an alternative to it is bound to emerge in that part of the country causing a split in its support base. That may even be an offshoot of the TNA, which is already experiencing some intraparty tussles. Thus, an elected Northern PC is going to be problematic not only for the government but also for the TNA.

There is no way the government could cancel northern PC polls even if all its Cabinet ministers were to stage a collective fast unto death. That is the political reality one has to come to terms with whether one likes it or not. It is a case of Hobson’s choice for President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the UPFA. He has to hold the northern PC polls in September as promised. Weerawansa is, we are afraid, protesting in vain, though he has a right to do so.

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