by Adayaalam, Jaffna, December 2, 2016
The Sub-Committee on Centre-Periphery Relations and the Unitary State
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ACPR is cautiously optimistic about the report of the CPR Sub-Committee which contains recommendations that have the potential to positively contribute to a genuine restructuring of the State that accommodates the concerns of the numerically smaller communities vis a vis the current state of the provincial council system and more broadly the desire of the Tamil people for a genuine form of self-government within a united Sri Lanka. The CPR Sub-Committee recommends inter alia that:
the office of the Governor of the Province be reduced to a ceremonial office with no real executive powers;
the appointment of the Governor is made by the President acting in concurrence with the Chief Minister of the Province;
the powers of Governor to provide assent to ordinary legislation and powers to initiate financial legislation be stripped;
the Public Service of the province function under the control of the elected executive of the province;
the Public Service apparatus in the Province be rearranged in such a way that the current duality in the power structure is eliminated;
the concurrent list be abolished;
the reserved list subject in the 13th amendment providing the of enacting ‘national policy’ on all subjects be abolished;
State Land and Law and Order be predominantly a subject for the Provinces; and
a fair fiscal arrangement that provides fiscal autonomy to the provinces be adopted.
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