Dr.Sudath Gunasekara 

(Please note that this is a revised version of an article I wrote to Lankaweb on 7.6. 2018 and 10. 3. 2020  on the same subject up dated to suit the present situation)  

Lakisuru Gothaabhaya Rajapaksha Metitumani !

The whole nation, and at least the 6.5 million of us whom have voted you at the Presidential election  and the SLPP on 5^th  August demand Your Excellency to abolish the white elephant and the curse that is Provincial Councils and its root the JR/ Rajiv Accord of 29th July 1987 at least now, before this Indian born Rathaksiya gobble up the Sinhala Buddhist Nation and this whole Island in its entirety in no time.

While congratulating again for the historic and unprecedented victory  you have gained, as I predicted on the 14th   Nov via my E-mail, addressed to you (Published in Lankaweb) and also while adoring  all patriotic and courageous steps you have already taken since then up to date like no other President, such as the brief but dignified speech you made  at the Election Commissioners office on the day you were declared elected as the President of this country and your historic address to the nation at the swearing in ceremony under the shadow of Ruwanweli Seya  (which I have been yearning for 14 years for the Head of the State to do), the most sacred Buddhist Stupa in the world and the crest jewel of the Sinhala Nation and the dignified address from the Thrown on 20^th August you have restored an age old tradition followed by our ancient Sinhala Kings, signifying a turning point in the history of this Island nation.

Furthermore  the lean interim cabinet of 15 Ministers, the smallest since 1956, the excellent way you have handled all Indian politicians and the Indian press on you visit just concluded and many more wise and bold decisions you have taken since you assumed Office, I am writing this note to you  to earnestly request you to  abolish the JR/ Rajiv Accord of 1987 and the disastrous 13th Amendment that gave birth to Provincial Councils and  many an inconsistencies and historical travesties in the Island’s long and checkered history  (explained in detail below), to rescue this  unique tiny Island nation from disappearing forever from this planet earth in few years due to disintegration, disunity and infighting between Bhoomiputra Sinhalese and intruder Tamil and Muslim ethnic groups, resulting from this  well designed Indian political Atom  bomb called the Provincial Councils, planted  to destroy this 2500 year old Glorious Sinhala Buddhist civilization, an all-time pride  and  a garland for human civilization on this planet.

I identify the following catastrophes resulting from these two Indian prescriptions.

1. Complete breakdown of district administration
2. Complete disintegration and division of the Sri Lankan State in to a number of different ethnic and religious enclaves at logger heads fighting for its resources like land and water and supremacy over the others threatening its unitary status and sovereignty as a nation.

3 Destabilization of governance resulting in complete anarchy due to break down in governance

• Colossal wastage of Public funds with no benefit to the people or the country in trillions  rupees
• Since the first elections for Provincial Councils took place on 28 April 1988 this is how public funds have been spent or rather wasted on their upkeep.

Sri Lanka Provincial Councils: Expenditure

1996 – 2017 | Yearly | LKR mn | Ministry of Finance

 Sri Lanka’s Provincial Councils: Expenditure data was reported at 286,031.000 LKR mn in Dec 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 276,147.000 LKR mn for Dec 2016. Sri Lanka’s Provincial Councils: Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 103,769.000 LKR mn from Dec 1996 to 2017, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 286,031.000 LKR mn in 2017. So with an average of almost 104 mn you can visualize how much national wealth has gone down the drain for the past 31 years, that is approximately 3224 mn or 3.2 Billion. What a colossal wastage and a pathetic and unpardonable misuse of public funds.”

The other important aspect is much of this money has gone for unproductive items like salaries and remunerations of Politicians and public Servants, buildings, vehicles, meaningless regular and luxury tamasas in five start hotels, foreign joy trips and other activities unrelated to development. Once the Secretary of the Ministry in charge of this subject told me that only 10 % of voted funds is spent on capital work and the balance 90 % is spent for recurrent activities which do not contribute anything for development.

With all this wastage of Public funds the billion dollar question the people of this country ask is what benefit PCC have brought to the Country since 1987. Beside the colossal financial lost to the country, the political, and administrative and institutional mess, chaos and confusion by way of duplication of institutions, and increase of an utterly unproductive and lotus eater set of politicians, and public servants. What benefits it has brought to the country over the past 31 years. Officials, offices and expenditure have exponentially increased in the ratio of 1 to 15 with zero output. It also has brought about a complete breakdown of the once highly efficient District Administration in this country. Thus the Provincial Councils have come to stay as a veritable Huniyama for this country’s peril.

Why we should have Provincial Councils at all

In this back drop I pose the pertinent question as to why we should have Provincial Councils at all in this country; today the whole nation asks?  Who asked for Provincial Councils?  Was it a request by the people of this country or by some genius politicians for better governance? No one at Home asked for it. It was India who proposed it first, to appease the Tamilnadu electorate to consolidate power at Home by imposing it on the Sri Lankan President by force, almost at gunpoint, well timed, when there was an old and weak President as the Head of Government. I still remember how India invaded our air space with their war jets and dropped parippu? to the north and how arrogantly and undiplomatically their Ambassador Dixit behaved in front of the elderly Statesman JR, the Head of this country at his Ward place residence, as if Dixit was the viceroy of India conveying the message of the Indian ‘King,’ threatening a Head of a Vassal State of India of an imminent Indian invasion of the Island, if he refuses to sign the Accord. 

The Accord was strategically designed by India , to divide and destabilize  this country on  an ethnic basis giving Tamils full power to own and rule nearly half of the country including the North and East and Central Sri Lanka (inclusive of Central, Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces), although India did not clearly specify these three Provinces. This was nothing but an extension of the same divide and rule policy started by the colonial British in 1832 by the creation the Provinces in a different form. This Indian conspiracy becomes crystal clear when we analyze the following impositions India made on this country by the Rajiv/JR Accord of 29th July 1987.

1 The declaration of the Northern and Eastern Provinces comprising 1/ 3 the land area of the Island as the Traditional Home land” of the Tamil People that was a complete travesty of the Islands authentic history. These two Provinces have never been a traditional Tamil land at any time of known history. On the contrary this whole Island had been the traditional Homeland of the Sinhala people at least from 543 BC and it is a historical fact accepted by all historians, other than the Tamils and Indian politicians.

First, this Accord enabled the Tamils to claim 1/3 of the land area of the country for a mere 5 lahks Tamils and thereby depriving any Sinhalese or Muslims being settled there while Tamils can settle down in any part of the Island

Second, giving Tamils the right to own 1/3 of the country, 2/3 the coastal belt and nearly 3/5 of the marine territory and its resources including the Trincommallee harbor, the best natural harbor in Asia  and the second best in the world.

Thus this Accord deprived the Bhoomiputras, the Sinhalese their birth right over their Motherland, which their ancestors have protected against all foreign invasions, both Indian and European for 2500 years and enjoyed for millennia as their beloved motherland from the dawn of history. This Accord was designed by India in order to fix the last nail on the Sinahla nation, with a vicious plan to annex the Island to India in future.

 Third Made Tamil also an Official language, nullifying Sec 18 of the Constitution of the Republic whereas even in India Tamil is not recognized as an Official language in spite of the fact that there are nearly 70 million Tamils there.

Fourth forced  Sri Lanka to give Citizenship to all estate Tamils of Indian origin in the Central, Sabargamauwa and Uva Provinces and even Indians living in other parts of the country even if they are illicit immigrants, disregarding all internationally accepted norms and our own laws on the subject of granting citizenship to foreigners in any country.

Fifth imposed that the Northern and Eastern Provinces should be merged to form one Tamil Province with provision to merge two or more Provinces as one in future.

Thus in sum the Accord completely destroyed the Independence, sovereignty, the Unitary status and the freedom of this Island Nation and i1987 Constitution as well, within few minutes, by one man Junies Richard Jayawardana against Island wide protests organized by the Opposition and the objections by some of his own Ministers, reducing this country to a veritable vassal State of the Subcontinent without any resistance. This was meek submission on the part of JR he committed for survival.

 Therefore while taking action to abolish this Accord, I also earnestly request you to reverse the above 4 conditions as early as possible.

JR was forced to accept the Accord almost at gunpoint and India laid down these 4 serious conditions reducing the 1987 Constitution to a mere paper scrap. Adding to this JR created PCC to all other Provinces as well accelerating the process of division and disintegration and leading to future political and administrative confusion. This Accord was signed under Island wide emergency and after confining all his MPP to a five star Hotel having obtained their undated letters of resignation.

The implementation of this Accord, to its logical conclusion will definitely wipe out the Sinhala Buddhist nation from the surface of this planet in the long run. Therefore the crying need, to abolish it immediately, with no delay.

It is in this dangerous and disastrous backdrop that I urge all patriotic people to rise against this Accord and disastrous Provincial Councils to strengthen the President’s hands and request him to abrogate it immediately as it constitutes the foundation for the division of this small country in to 9 antagonistic pieces and finally falling in to the hands of India (As you know Sir a scrambled egg can never be un-scrambled).  This is exactly what the people of this country have been agitating and demanding every government, for the past 31 years. But tragically it has not fallen on the deaf ears of our selfish and timid and power hungry politicians who have no concern for the country or the future of the people. The SLFP under Sirimavo protested against it right from the beginning although later it also embraced it without realizing the inherent dangers that underlies these clauses of the Accord.

Let us abolish these PCC immediately

As such why talk of PCC elections now, instead of abolishing this national curse and disaster immediately? This is a crucial political decision long overdue that has to be taken by a patriotic statesman like you, who loves this country and its people, in order to save this country from an imminent total political, economic, social and cultural disaster in the offing. In fact this is a priority decision that has to be taken as early as possible by your Government. The whole country wants it to go. Once the Accord is abolished, the 13th A and the PCC set up under that will also get abolished automatically. We all expected MR to do this immediately after the 2009 when he had all the power including a 2/3 in Parliament.  Had he done that then no one could have dared to contest it. But unfortunately he did not do it.  Again he appears to promise the press today that as soon as the General election is over they will have the PC elections. I do not know whether he said so to garner the 2/3 and abolish it thereafter. If that is his plan the whole nation will admire him ore that his victory over the LTTE. I only hope he will not commit the same mistake he did after the 2010 Election.

Once the PCC are gone all superficial Office holders such as the so called 9 Governors, 9 ‘Cheap’ Ministers, 45 Provincial Ministers and all such parasitic politicians who bleed the nation to its bones will also go home relieving the burden they have overloaded on the country. Thereafter every one of them will at least plant a manioc stem that will do some service at least to a wild boar. The professional public servants presently working in these Councils will have no problem as they could be accommodated in suitable places in the public service until they retire.

Another reason why I argue for the abolition of PCC is the need to avoid a total disaster in District Administration that will make any retrieval of governance in this country impossible. Furthermore that will put an end to all divisive political manipulations such as federal status, self-determination, self-rule of Muslims and EELAM dreams of the Tamils. It will also save billions of rupees now being spent for the upkeep of these monkey cages and piggeries called Provincial Councils infested with monkeys and goats, a political appendage and a dead weight around the nation’s neck that has burdened the country for the past 31 years and destabilized the total administration almost beyond recovery. Finally it will also relive us from any future subversive Indian or Arabian invasions and conspiracies hatched to divide this country on ethnic basis with a dream of Indianization of this country or converting it to an Arab land as Hisbulla has planned in the E astern Katthankudi area.

 I call upon all Patriotic people to make this request in one voice from the new President to abolish these monkey cages and dens of thieves that have exponentially increased waste and corruption and completely ruined the decent political culture of this country for the past 31 years and multiplied separatists tendencies and communal agitations dragging the nation to complete disintegration in future on ethnic lines with no chance of redemption in future

I know it very well that no political party, even  the UNP that invented it under J.R. or even those who were against them in 1987 will ask for their abolition, as they use these Councils members to net votes at all elections for their political survival. But for the general public these Councils are an eye sore when they see the way how public funds are been wasted criminally on the upkeep of these useless lotus eater Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers, Members, plethora of officials and the institutions that house them. Other than enjoying the luxuries of office, attending openings, weddings, funerals school functions like sport meets, temple functions, and various other social and private tamsas, roaming all over the world on pleasure trips and running all over the country to show their loyalty to their political masters,  misusing public funds, and collecting votes and funds for their political leaders in Colombo and herding people for their meetings like May day rallies and propaganda meetings of their masters in Parliament who in turn ruin the whole country and throwing their weight on the innocent and helpless masses on the other hand, I ask these parasitic creatures as to what service they have done to the people or the country that pay their salaries and ill-gotten fabulous perks 

Why can’t the SLPP (successor to SLFP), as a group who constitutes the majority who opposed the 13th A in 1987 at least now agitate for the abolition of this tragic national curse. The people hate this system and curse them too. Now that the SLPP that has come to power with a resounding victory already has the Pradesiya Sabhas, the live wires of Local Government in its hand to organize the election campaign for them at the village and the local levels there is no need for a Provincial apparatus for elections either.

Now that the country has functioned smoothly without these parasitic and wasteful institutions, almost for the past three years and has proved beyond all doubts their uselessness there is no justification for their retaining. A reorganize strong District Administration headed by professional administrators will ensure better governance as it had been the indigenous system of administration in the past. Even the British adopted certain aspects of this system to run the country very effectively and efficiently for 133 years.

The Provincial Councils have already become redundant and dysfunctional. As such if he SLPP can get them abolished, its vote base will rise up exponentially at all future elections.  Therefore the SLPP will not lose anything by getting them abolished. Instead people will definitely rally round the party as a mark of appreciation and gratitude for relieving them of this 31 year curse and disaster. Furthermore MR also can make use of this golden opportunity to punish all those ungrateful rascals and double-dealers who have betrayed him after the 2015 elections and send them permanently to political wilderness. In this backdrop if the SLPP do this, I can assure that the grateful masses who have suffered for the past 31 years under this curse will rally round it in a manner nobody would have ever imagined.  Besides increasing its vote base it will also be doing a yeoman service by this country and the nation, for liberating this country out of this wishful Indian trap that has already done enormous political and economic damage to this country and that will definitely play the main role in dividing and destabilizing this Island nation in future if we retained them.

 I can assure you that the abolition of the Provincial Council curse and its umbilical code, the Rajiv/JR Accord will not be second to liberating the country from the LTTE in 2009 and it could be even a bigger achievement of higher historical significance.  It will definitely go down in history as another historic landmark in the Rajapaksa legend that has prevented this Island nation getting broken in to  9 Federal State of different  ethnic groups fighting for its land ,water and other resources that will finally make this country a hell on earth.

India also cannot contest the abolition of the JR/Rajiv Accord a s it had already been unilaterally broken by India at the very early stages, by not complying with its obligations in the Accord. As such it has ceased to have any legal validity as an international agreement signed between two countries

Finally  now that you have got also got a sweeping mandate to vital issues like repealing of the 19th A and revising the electoral system by removing the preferential voting, District representative system, removing the crazy National List and reducing the number of MPP in Parliament to a meaningful level, say about 150, and laying down qualifications for politicians like minimum education, character, assets and residence within the electorate etc. so that returning to the democratic practice of electing their representatives and  just governance is restored once again in this Island nation.

More over from where are you going to get 1000 billion rupees to hold another election in few months at a time the economy is at rock bottom and debt liabilities are sky high? Isn’t it we are going to get into deeper economic crisis by having the Provincial Councils? Isn’t it a game of from frying the fan to the fire?

Therefore both in short term and long term interest the most wises thing the Government can do now is to abolish this national curse, the Provincial Councils. That is the wish of the whole nation