Thursday, 20 June 2013 00:41
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The Government says administratively the 13th Amendment to the constitution is a “white elephant” and past experiences have proven this.
In a live Twitter interview today, President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga said that the 13th Amendment must be viewed from the angle of the citizen.
“It’s no secret that administratively it’s a white elephant. Pres Rajapaksa will always honour the Constitution. 13 A has to be viewed from people’s standpoint. Devolution must be to the village. Power must be devolved to the lowest possible level, the village – the Gramarajya or Panchayat. Sub notational level PCs haven’t served purpose,” he said.
He also rejected the assertion that the actions of the government contravene the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
Speaking on the progress on implementing the recommendations of the LLRC, Weeratunga said that progress has been satisfactory but there are certain activities that take a long time to complete.
“One cannot expect steady progress all the time,” he said. He also said that a website will be launched next week with updates on the National Plan of Action (NPOA) on the LLRC recommendations.
This was the first time that such a high profile government official was taking part in a live social media interview.
Asked for his views on a comment made by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa recently that socialk media can be seen as a threat to national security, Weeratunga said that he had a point since social media has been used for destructive purposes. (Colombo Gazette)
