Wijeyadasa decries 13A abolition or curtailment of powers
Tuesday, 23 July 2013 01:06
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
The abolition or curtailment of powers relating to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution would cause more political catastrophes and devastations compared to the holding of elections under the existing law, UNP Parliamentarian Wijeyadasa Rajapakse said.
Delivering the Dr. P.R. Anthonis memorial oration at Sasakawa Hall under the theme of ‘Humanity and Human Rights,’ President’s Counsel Rajapakse said though there was a serious dialogue among people as to whether the powers devolved upon the provincial units were to be expanded or abridged or completely abolished, he personally held the opinion that the abolition or curtailment of powers would cause more political catastrophes and devastations compared to holding elections under the existing law.
Rajapakse said there was an abysmal gap between the attitudes of the Government and Tamils in north and east. “It appears that the Government is under the impression that the problems of the north and east are due to lack of resources and developments while the Tamils are of the view that their main problem is based on humanity and dignity,” he said.
“One may find ample examples in world history that most of the wars and human conflicts had emerged all over the world due to attitudes relating to humanity and dignity and not due to scarcity of resources. One may justifiably question that if the Sri Lankan Government cannot satisfy and convince the minority communities which are less than six million in number, how can it convince and satisfy the international community? On the other hand, why should we strive to satisfy the international community while having all possible remedies without our reach?” he said.
The memorial oration was organised by JICA Alumni Association to pay tribute to Dr. P.R. Anthonis’ yeoman service, saving the lives of thousands of people and bringing solace and succour to tens of thousands of people at the cost of his own inconvenience.
