Rajapaksa nationalist ally leaves Lanka committee on 13A

Unhappy over government's failure to dilute the powers of the provinces, including the Tamil-dominated northern territory, an ally of President Mahinda Rajapaksa today said they were quitting the panel probing the thirteenth amendment (13A).
The nationalist JHU or the Heritage Party said they were quitting the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) over government's failure to amend the 13A .
"It is now not possible to amend the 13A before the northern provincial council election," Champika Ranawaka the JHU front liner and the Minister of Technological Research said.
Ranawaka's JHU was among President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Sinhala majority nationalist allies who clamoured for stripping the provincial council with powers to control land and provincial police powers.

They urged the stripping of powers ahead of the September 21 northern election as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was likely to take control of the northern province.
The JHU and the government allies took part in the parliamentary select committee convened with the aim to dilute provincial council powers.

The opposition stayed out of it saying it was meaningless.
"The government having moved two constitutional amendments is dragging its feet through the PSC. So we see no purpose to stay in it. We are quitting the PSC," Ranawaka stressed.
He said if the government would move to either abolish the provincial council system or dilute powers the JHU would then support the government.

"We can't be a party to allow the TNA pursue its racist agenda," Ranawaka said, referring to the main Tamil party's election namifesto which reiterated the Tamil demand for a self rule in the Tamil regions.