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The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) makes this representation on behalf of 8 mainline non-Roman Catholic Churches and 5 ecumenical organizations that form the NCCSL.
We believe that the new Constitution for Sri Lanka should reflect the plural character of our polity and affirm equality of all persons. This assertion, apart from being clearly stated, also ought to be seen in the provisions that are drafted into the Constitution. Values such as Rule of Law, respect for democracy, upholding of human rights and secularism are some of those universal standards we like to see as visible and justiciable rights that are afforded to all the people of the country. Transitional Arrangements We are deeply conscious that a new Constitution cannot be suddenly brought into operation and that it will not solve the ethnic conflict overnight. We recognize that the internal war in our country that was fought for at least two decades with heavy human cost is a direct result of our failure to address the grievance and political aspirations of all our peoples. Therefore the phenomenon of the use of violence and terrorism and the counter violence and counter terrorism must be seen as a product of our failure. In seeking to end this phenomenon we cannot ostracize or marginalize those who have manifested the problem through these means. Any solution must also be designed to re-integrate those and necessary climate for such re-integration must be created. Our suggestion is that transitional arrangements be made in the proposed Constitutional model that addresses this issue carefully. The LTTE and the oversized military of our country must be found constructive roles to play in the new polity. Given that the Ceasefire Agreement recognizes areas of control between the Government and the LTTE, we recommend that a suitable interim administration be agreed upon so that smooth transition can take place from the present to the final solution. Unitary Constitution We think that the capability of a unitary constitution to address the political aspirations of the Tamils and Muslims of this country will be extremely limited. One has to expressly recognize and cherish that we are a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual country. A Constitutional framework for such a plural society must necessarily affirm and reflect this fact. A unitary type Constitution will not reflect the mosaic of different identities that make our country so rich in its diversity. A unitary Constitution will deny to the different peoples the space that is necessary to celebrate their different cultural, linguistic, ethnic and religious distinctiveness. More than half a century of unitary type Constitutions have taught us that no solution to the ethnic conflict can be found within such a structure. Even the experiment with the 13th amendment to the 1978 Constitution is a failure mainly due to the fact that the nature of the Constitution will not permit genuine power sharing. We think that there is internal contradiction in a phrase such as "maximum devolution within a unitary Constitution''. True power sharing cannot happen in a unitary model since power that is given can always be taken back. Therefore given our own experience with unitary Constitutions and a correct understanding of the nature of a unitary model should persuade us to reject a unitary type Constitution. Federal Constitution By contrast we think that a federal type Constitution is the only hope for a peaceful resolution of the ethnic conflict within the framework of one country. Our position is that our country's national problem must be solved by meaningful autonomy granted to Tamil and Muslim citizens of this country, which would address their legitimate aspirations within the framework of one country. We recognize that all agreements that the communities have been able to agree upon from 1956 onwards, have been on the basis of power sharing within a federal structure in the areas of historic habitation of the Tamil speaking peoples. One can identify the Bandaranayake-Chelvanayagam Pact, the Dudley-Chelva Pact, the Indo-Lanka Accord and finally the Oslo communiqué. This then is an indication of the basis on which a possible solution can be founded. This possibility in itself is enough to seek a solution based on a federal type Constitution. Moreover it is only in a federal structure that the different communities can have meaningful autonomy to control their own affairs. Thus the structure should be such that the Centre retains only powers of defence, foreign relations and the like and leave all other subjects to the states. Given the size of the country and other considerations we think that the devolution of power should be asymmetrical, so that unnecessary imposition of difficulties where they do not exist at present could be avoided. Maximum devolution must be afforded to the North and East provinces so that the aspirations of the Tamil and Muslim peoples would be addressed. A different level of devolution of power ought to be worked out for the expression of their own distinctive identity by the Muslims. Unit of devolution In an asymmetrical devolution for the North and East, we think that the two provinces should be merged to afford a linguistic contiguity to the Tamil speaking peoples with a sub-autonomous region for the Muslims in the South Eastern area. Symmetrical devolution of power to the provinces has proved to be a failure, naturally because the reasons for power sharing models do not exist in the South and Western parts of the country. lf the Tamil speaking peoples are to exercise political power as a collective group, a merged North-East is essential. However we believe that this ought to be done subject to the democratic will of the people of the Eastern province, given the demographic distribution of the communities in that province. To that end we endorse the provision in the Indo-Lanka Accord to conduct a referendum in the Eastern province to ascertain the will of the people of that province. Rights of Local Minorities Specific unalterable provisions must be made in the Constitution for the protection of local minorities within the different regions or provinces. There must be avenues available for those also to exercise a measure of self-determination and most importantly vindicate their right to equality and equal opportunity within the areas in which they are a minority. Concerns These recommendations for a political solution to the national issue are being made with the following serious concerns:
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