Sri Lanka: JVP govt’s reluctance to hold provincial polls deepens Tamil anxiety

Is the Sri Lankan government preparing the grounds to quietly do away with provincial councils that came up as a result of the 1987 India-Sri Lanka Accord? Signals from Colombo indicate this may be so.

The vexed bilateral agreement which sought to end Tamil separatism envisaged elected councils for all nine provinces in Sri Lanka to devolve powers locally for a better development of the various regions.

Although the chief objective of the provision was to influence people to shun separatism in the then united Tamil-majority north-eastern province, the provincial councils were established across the entire island nation, giving birth to a new tier of political activism.

Also Read: How Asian economies are coping with energy crisis amid Iran war

A broken pledge?

Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition, led by President Anura Dissanayake, promised in 2024 to hold fresh local body and provincial elections within a year if it formed a government.

But despite being in office for more than a year, the pledge has not been acted upon, triggering growing doubts about whether the provincial polls would be held at all.

“If the government has the political will, they can hold the elections now,” Faiszer Musthapha, a former minister for sports and provincial councils, said in a telephonic interview from Colombo.

He said successive governments over almost one decade had repeatedly postponed provincial elections across the country over one pretext or another and were happy to control the councils through unelected governors appointed by them.

This is happening yet again.

Panel kicks deadline further down

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath has now declared that a parliamentary panel which was to submit an initial report in three months on the feasibility of holding provincial elections will table only a preliminary report, indicating that further stages of the review will follow, with obviously no clear time frame in sight.

The select committee will meet again on April 7 to consult the Attorney General and the Election Commission over both provincial elections and a full implementation of the India-backed 13th amendment to the constitution that led to devolution of power. But nobody expects any breakthrough.

The Sri Lankan government has been given to understand that they might lose as many as four to five of the nine provincial councils, including those in the (Tamil-majority) north and the (multi-racial) east. The government cannot afford this. Any government which loses so massively even before reaching midway through the term will be considered dead for the remaining period.

— A former government minister

Some opposition leaders, including Tamils who are more particular about the provincial bodies, say this reinforces a long held view that no government is committed to decentralizing power whatever they may state publicly.

JVP never liked these councils

The Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP or People’s Liberation Front), which heads the ruling coalition, was never a supporter of provincial councils, bitterly opposed as it was to the 1987 accord that was viewed as an Indian imposition on Sri Lanka.

At the same time, when it was trying to ride to power and wanted to win crucial Tamil votes, the JVP-led alliance promised to hold the provincial contests. It was sure of winning them after the 2025 parliamentary battle.

Election losses changed everything

The JVP’s confidence suffered a rude jolt when the coalition lost some 1.8 million votes in local body elections held months after the general elections in the country last year.

“This is the main reason why the JVP is now running away from provincial council elections,” said a former government minister who did not want to be quoted by name.

“The government has been given to understand that they might lose as many as four to five of the nine provincial councils, including those in the (Tamil-majority) north and the (multi-racial) east,” he added. “The government cannot afford this. Any government which loses so massively even before reaching midway through the term will be considered dead for the remaining period.”

Also Read: LIVE developments on Iran war

Senior Tamil politician MA Sumanthiran said a week ago in India that his Ilangai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the main Tamil party, was confident of taking power in both the north and east in any provincial council election.

A Tamil political analyst, however, said the JVP seemed to be fundamentally opposed to provincial councils as its leftist ideology clashed with the concept that decentralization was needed to resolve Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis.

Governors rule, councils lie dormant

The provincial councils can enact legislation in respect to subjects like health, education and agriculture. With no elected council in Sri Lanka since 2017-18, the powers are wielded by the Colombo-appointed governors, negating the purpose for which the creation of these bodies was mandated through legislation decades earlier.

The first provincial elections took place in 1988 in Sri Lanka when the Indian army was deployed in the country’s northeast. The elected council in the north-eastern province was summarily dismissed in 1990. Subsequently, the north-eastern province was split to form separate administrative regions.

While the rest of the seven provincial councils functioned till 2017-18, the Tamil-majority north did not see any election for 23 long years while there was no election in the eastern region for 18 years.

Tamils feel the stakes most

“That is why Tamils feel so perturbed,” said Tamil political analyst Shanthan K Thambiah, who is based in London. “If no elections are held, it will be a major blow to Tamil aspirations.”

He said Sri Lanka must understand that devolving even limited powers to provinces would only strengthen the country in the long term as could be seen the way different states in India contribute to that country’s progress.

Both India and the West are soft on the JVP government fearing that any serious pressure from them would push it towards China. There is no international pressure on this government.

— A retired Sri Lankan diplomat

Sri Lankan leaders argue that the massive infrastructure destruction and deaths caused by last year’s devastating cyclone as well as the ongoing Gulf war and the resultant energy crisis need to be tackled before any election can be organised.

No pressure from India

While Indian officials insist that India has not softened its stand on the 13th amendment and provincial council elections, a retired Sri Lankan diplomat insisted that there was no pressure from New Delhi now to hold the elections.

“Both India and the West are soft on the JVP government fearing that any serious pressure from them would push it towards China,” he said, referring to a country with which the Marxist JVP has traditionally maintained close ties.

“There is no international pressure on this government,” the ex-diplomat added. “This suits the JVP. This is why (top JVP leader) Tilvin Silva has even said that provincial councils have not served their purpose.”

Also Read: Three states, one Constitution, two irreconcilable visions of religious freedom

Silva, considered the real power behind President Dissanayake, made the statement without any elaboration after a brief visit to India this month.

According to him, the government did want to hold provincial elections this year but legal barriers, the need for electoral delimitation and damages caused by last year’s cyclone have come in the way.

Some political actors believe that signals from government leaders make it increasingly clear that provincial elections may not be held even in 2027.

The provincial councils have given rise to many political activists who have later played important national role. The most prominent among such people was Chandrika Kumaratunga who was the chief minister of the Western province, which includes Colombo, before she catapulted to national politics and eventually became Sri Lanka’s president.