SLMC opposes govt. decision not to allocate land and police powers to the provinces

An ally of Sri Lanka’s governing United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the Sri Lanka Muslin Congress (SLMC) has opposed the government’s decision not to allocate land and police powers to the provinces.

SLMC Deputy Secretary Nizam Kariyappar has said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has promised to invite the SLMC for the next round of talks with the government. He has observed that the Tamil speaking people in the North and East Provinces were hopeful of power being devolved to the provinces as promised by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the All Party Representative meeting in 2006.

The SLMC’s High Command is to meet shortly to decide on its official stance on the matter. Kariyappar has noted that the party would make its stance known to the government at the next round of talks with the TNA that is to be attended by the SLMC.

The next round of talks between the government and TNA are scheduled for 17 January.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has recently told a media meeting that the government will not grant land and police powers to provincial councils as sought by the TNA in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, who was a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader, has said that devolution of police powers to the provinces would cause security issues to the government and in the event police powers were devolved, maintaining law and order and rule of law in some provincial councils, would be impossible.

(Colombo Page)