Book Review: State Reform in Sri Lanka: Issues, Directions and Perspectives edited by Jayadeva Uyangoda

by Sumanasiri Liyanage

Reviewed by: Sumanasiri Liyanage

Source: The Island, October 25, 2013.

With the recently concluded Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Election, the issue of state reform is back on the agenda as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that stands explicitly for federal system of governance was able to win the majority seats in the NPC. Mr Vignesvaran of the TNA was sworn in before President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Chief Minister of the NPC. It is certain that the NPC will ask for the full powers of the Provincial List of the 13th Amendment to the Second Republican Constitution the full implementation of which has consciously and purposely been thwarted by the central government since its enactment in 1987. The question as to how the post-colonial Sri Lankan state should be restructured in order to accommodate the demands and aspirations of the numerically small nations in the island has once again been posed and it has to be resolved not at the deliberations of the Parliamentary Select Committee the President Rajapaksa has proposed but at the constant negotiations between the central government and the NPC. The debate on this issue has already begun. In this context, the new book, State Reform in Sri Lanka: Issues, Directions and Perspectives edited by Jayadeva Uyangoda is a timely addition to this important debate.

Source: The Island

The Book: State Reform in Sri Lanka: Issues, Directions and Perspectives