As regards the Provincial Council elections, the APRC report noted:

“The APRC is of the view that conditions in the Eastern Provinces are conducive for holding elections to the provincial council and that elections should be held immediately. Conditions in the Northern Province are far from being peaceful. A free and fair election in the North will not be possible in the near future. Hence an alternative arrangement is required in the Northern Province to enable the people of that Province to enjoy the fruits of devolution… As it is not possible to hold elections in the North, the President could make appropriate order to establish an Interim Council for the Northern Province in terms of the Constitution.”

Sources
Full implementation of the 13th Amendment recommended, The Hindu, 24 January 2008; APRC ‘approves’ 13th amendment, BBC Sinhala, 21 January 2008
Quotations

“This certainly would not be the final proposal and will not be a universal panacea for all ills in the country. It will however be a firm and reliable foundation to build and develop a new Constitution for the Nation. It is a long-term process, requiring a step-by-step approach. We will strive to implement to the optimum, what we could, under the existing Constitution and mechanism, amending it where necessary”. Chairman of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC)

“The Government of Sri Lanka has been good enough to share with us the interim steps recommended by the All Party Representatives Conference in Sri Lanka for implementation of devolution provisions and official language provisions of the Sri Lankan Constitution. It has consistently been our view that a settlement of the issues in Sri Lanka is to be done by the Sri Lankan people themselves in a manner acceptable to all communities within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. The Government of India will continue to work with Sri Lanka and its people to bring about such a settlement of the issues in Sri Lanka. To the extent that the APRC proposals contribute to such a settlement, they are a welcome first step”. Official Spokeperson, High Commission of India, Press Release, 25 January 2008

“The 13th amendment of 1987 was a treatment for ulcer. But 20 years down the line, the ulcer has become cancer. We now need a medicine for cancer, not ulcer.” V. Anandasangaree, President Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF)

“We consider the APRC as an anachronism, not representative of the free will of the Sri Lankan people. We reject any recommendations made by such a body. [The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was thrust upon the then Government] by the Indians with their gunboats outside the Colombo Harbour”. Somawansa Amarasinghe, Leader of the JVP.

Related events

Related links
Rohan Edrisinha on the APRC Proposals and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, groundviews, 30 January 2008

The 37-page ‘majority report’ recommends inter alia maximum devolution of power, with the province as the unit of devolution.  It stated that although the country was multi-ethnic and multi-religious, the crisis had arisen because the numerically smaller ethnic groups had not had their due share of state power: "This has resulted in the minorities being sidelined and becoming alienated from the Sri Lankan state, as initial efforts to redeem this situation by a power-sharing mechanism failed".

The group recommended that the name of the state be "The Republic of Sri Lanka." It recommended that in the Constitution it be termed "one, free, sovereign and independent State," and the use of distinctive expressions, such as unitary, federal, union of regions/provinces, among others, be avoided. Instead reference could be made to the state as consisting of "institutions of the Centre and of the provinces, which shall exercise power in the manner provided for in the Constitution."

The group recommended a single North-East province with two internally autonomous units to address the concerns of the Muslim and Sinhalese populations: "In such an arrangement, the Muslim-majority unit will comprise Kalmunai, Sammanthurai and the Pottuvil polling divisions as the base together with non-contiguous Muslim-majority Divisional Secretary’s Divisions in the North-East. The Sinhala-majority unit will comprise Ampara polling division together with non-contiguous Sinhala-majority Divisional Secretary’s Divisions in the North-East".

Source
Devolution proposal in Sri Lanka, The Hindu, 7 December 2006.