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.

In an interim injunction, the court stayed “till final determination” critical operative elements of the Regional Committee that was formed as one of the three tiers under the PTOMS agreement. The three-member Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously stayed the project approval and fund management functions of the committee – the most critical element of the joint mechanism at the regional level.

The court did not object to the other two tiers – the national and the district committee – and made it clear that the interim order “is not granted in respect of the entirety” of the MoU establishing the PTOMS.

Sources
Provisions of joint mechanism stayed, The Hindu, 16 July 2005.

Quotations

“We have succeeded in our struggle. There is nothing in the agreement now.” Vijitha Herath, international secretary of the JVP and former Cabinet Minister.

“The structure as provided in the MoU consisting of committees may be established and become functional subject to the restrictions imposed by the judgement.” Supreme Court ruling.

Related events
PA and JVP jointly campaign against interim administration
GoSL signs PTOMS agreement
Supreme Court declares 1987 merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces as unlawful
Experts’ Committee of the APRC reports

Sources
Sri Lanka tsunami aid deal signed, BBC, 24 June 2005; S. Lanka government nears collapse, CNN, 16 June 2005

Extracts from PTOMS agreement
Memorandum of Understanding for Establishment of a Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure
Preamble
…
WHEREAS in recognition of this urgent humanitarian need and in a spirit of partnership, the Government of Sri Lanka (the “GOSU) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the “LTTE”) (the “Parties”) have resolved to work together, in good faith and using their best efforts, to deliver expeditious relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development to the coastal communities in the six districts of Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Trincomalee (“the Six Districts”) and to facilitate and expedite the process of rebuilding the affected areas;

WHEREAS there is a need for establishing P-TOMS to facilitate such cooperation among communities, and between the Parties;

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing the Parties have entered into this MOU and agreed as follows:

1. Structure
a. An integrated operational management structure shall be established for the purpose of planning, implementing and coordinating post-tsunami work. Such structure shall consist of:

i. The Post-Tsunami Coastal Reconstruction Committee (the “High-Level Committee”);
ii. The Post-Tsunami Coastal Reconstruction Committee for the Six Districts (the “Regional Committee”); and
iii. Post-Tsunami Coastal Reconstruction Committees for each of the Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu; and Trincomalee districts (the “District Committees”).

b. The High-Level Committee, the Regional Committee and the District Committees shall discharge of their functions in such a manner as to address the concerns of all persons in the Tsunami Disaster Zone (the “TDZ”, as defined below) and shall do so without discrimination against any person on grounds such as ethnic origin, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, social origin, birth or other status.

2. Scope
…
b. The Tsunami Disaster Zone (the “TDZ”) shall be defined as the area affected by the tsunami.
…
f. The Ceasefire Agreement, dated as of 23 February 2002, between the GOSL and the LTTE, shall continue in full force and effect, and nothing in this MOU shall be construed to prejudice such agreement or alter its terms in anyway.
…

5. High-Level Committee
a. Geographic Scope. The High-Level Committee shall act exclusively in relation to the TDZ.

b. Functions. The High-Level Committee shall perform the following functions:

i. Formulation of policies for the equitable allocation and disbursement of donor funds in the TDZ based on needs assessments submitted to the High-Level Committee, guided by the principle that funds should be allocated in proportion to the number of affected persons and the extent of damage;
ii. Provision of advisory services; and
iii. Monitoring of the functioning of P-TOMS.

c. Composition. The High-Level Committee shall consist of the following members:

i. 1 nominee by GOSL;
ii. 1 nominee by LTTE; and
iii. 1 nominee by Muslim parties.

…

6. Regional Committee

a. Geographic Scope. The Regional Committee shall act exclusively within those areas of the TDZ in the Six Districts.

b. Functions. The Regional Committee shall perform the following functions:

i. Development of strategies for implementation and prioritization of post-tsunami emergency relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development measures;
ii. Project approval and management, with respect to projects for post-tsunami relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development;
iii. Overall monitoring of projects; and
iv. Fund management, with respect to the fund specifically defined in Section 7.

c. Composition.

The Regional Committee shall consist of the following members:

i. 2 members nominated by GOSL, out of which one will serve as Deputy Chairperson;
ii. 5 members nominated by LTTE, out of which one will serve as Chairperson;
iii. 3 members nominated by the Muslim parties, out of which one will serve as Deputy Chairperson;

…

e. Decision Making.

i. The Regional Committee shall strive to make decisions based on consensus. All members shall work together in good faith and use their best efforts to reach a common agreement before the Regional Committee makes any decisions.
ii. In the event that consensus cannot be reached, decisions shall be made by a simple majority of the Regional Committee. In the event of equality of votes, the Chairperson can exercise a casting vote.
iii. Notwithstanding paragraph iv below, in the event that a decision is taken on an issue having an adverse effect on a minority group, acknowledged by at least two members of the. Regional Committee, approval will require two thirds majority (seven members) of the Regional Committee.
iv. In the event that a proposal from a District Committee does not get a simple majority in the Regional Committee and at least two members of the Regional Committee request redressing of the decision relating to the proposal, the rejection will require two thirds majority (seven members) of the – Regional Committee.

f. Location. The Regional Committee shall be located in Kilinochchi.

…
8. District Committees

a. Geographic Scope. Each District Committee shall act exclusively in relation to those areas of the TDZ within its district.

b. Functions.

Each District Committee shall perform the following functions within its district:

i. Identification of needs;
ii. Prioritization of needs;
iii. To generate, receive, appraise and prioritize project proposals from various stakeholders and submit recommendations to the Regional Committee; and
iv. To monitor and report on project progress to the Regional Committee.

Related events
15 July 2005

Sources
Tamil Tigers reject peace move, BBC, 30 May, 2003; Peace process on the brink, Front Line Magazine, Volume 20 – Issue 12, June 7 – 20, 2003.

Quotation

“In his deliberations with the Norwegian Foreign Minister Mr Jan Petersen, Mr. Pirapaharan suggested an innovative interim administrative structure vested with adequate authority and legal status ‘with greater participation of the LTTE in both decision making and delivery of the tasks of rebuilding the war damaged economy and restoring normalcy in the Tamil speaking homeland.’ You would have observed that we did not elaborate on the powers, functions and mechanisms of the proposed administrative structure. We entrusted the task of formulating the framework to your government with the hope that you will act with courage and creativity to accommodate the aspirations of our people since your government has an overwhelming mandate from the Sinhala masses to establish an interim administrative structure for the northeast.

As we have already explained to you our leadership was compelled to seek an interim administrative structure set-up for two reasons. Firstly, we realised that a permanent political settlement in the form of regional autonomy and self-government for the Tamils through radical constitutional transformation is not feasible under the current unstable political environment created by the dual, ferociously opposed power centres in Colombo. Secondly, the institutions created by laborious dialogue at the negotiating table failed to function effectively to address and redress the immense humanitarian problems faced by hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons and refugees who need immediate and urgent relief. …

Having studied the contents of your proposals we are surprised, and at the same time, dismayed that your government did not address the critical issue of setting up an interim administrative structure for the northeast as suggested by the LTTE leadership. Instead, you have proposed a development orientated structure with extremely limited administrative powers in which the participatory role of the LTTE is not clearly defined, or rather, left deliberately ambiguous…. You have commented that the government has to operate within the laws of the land. We can certainly understand the fragile position of your government caught up with an enraged President seeking revenge and an entrenched constitution that allows no space for manoeuvre. You will certainly agree that if the political system is unstable and your administration is powerless, it will be impossible to resolve the ethnic conflict either by interim means or by permanent settlement. How long can our people wait and tolerate their hardships if your government seeks refuge under legal and constitutional obstacles? Have they not been waiting for more than half a century for redemption while the Sinhala political classes fought ferociously among themselves to deny the inalienable political rights of our people?

As a liberation organisation which has fought a freedom struggle for more than two and half decades with enormous sacrifices, the interests and welfare of our people are of paramount importance to us. You must understand our predicament when no progress has been made through the peace effort towards alleviating the extreme hardships and suffering of our people. The people are loosing confidence in us as if we are involved in a futile exercise that produces no dividends. …

We wish to point out that the envisaged new structure does not offer significant participatory role for the LTTE, except in the low level Development Committees and in administering the North East Reconstruction Fund. Situating the development structure within the parameters of the constitution you have effectively placed the proposed institution under the authority of the central government, particularly under the authority of your office and Parliament. Having completely rejected our suggestion for an interim administrative structure with significant role for the LTTE, your proposal clearly states that the ‘administration of the Northeast is the responsibility both of the Northeast Provincial Council and the central government’. In this context, you have conveniently ignored the stark reality that the LTTE runs a de-facto administration of its own in vast tracts of territories under its control in the Northeast.

As you are aware we have been critical of the functions of multiple government structures and agencies that work at cross purposes at various levels of administration and have created serious impediments for rehabilitation and development activities. We are of the opinion that the proposed new structure for rehabilitation and development will turn out to be a new apex bureaucracy administratively linked to several other inefficient and defunct state agencies and mechanisms and will not be able to carry out the immense humanitarian tasks efficiently. For the reasons set-out in our critique the leadership of our liberation movement regrets to inform you that the new proposal submitted by your government for our perusal is unacceptable to us.” Anton Balasingham, LTTE chief negotiator, in a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, 30 May 2003.

Related events
April 2003
14 April 2003
10 June 2003

Extracts from the Press Statement of Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“Sri Lanka Peace Talks – Agreed Statement on behalf of the Parties 21 March 2003 …

The parties met amid growing security concerns following recent incidents on land and at sea. While they acknowledged that parallel progress is needed in negotiations on security, economic and political issues, the parties left no doubt that they must now give top priority to improving the security situation, in particular at sea. The parties undertook to enforce better compliance with the Ceasefire Agreement by their personnel.

The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are deeply concerned about the latest incidents at sea, including on 10 March. To prevent future incidents at sea that could threaten the stability of the ceasefire, the parties have agreed to convene senior naval and political representatives from both sides within three weeks to work out effective arrangements for the operation of naval units in keeping with existing treaty obligations. The meeting will be convened by the Royal Norwegian Government and the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and will immediately start preparing the meeting with military leaders on both sides. The parties agreed to instruct their naval units to exercise restraint, as required by the Ceasefire Agreement, and to avoid provocative actions in the crucial period prior to the establishment of appropriate procedures.

In this context, the parties agreed to strengthen the mandate and capacity of the SLMM to undertake preventive measures to avoid serious incidents at sea and on land. As a fundamental precondition for the SLMM to take on a stronger role, the parties pledged to ensure full compliance with the rulings of the SLMM, guarantee the security of its personnel in all situations, and take disciplinary action against anyone endangering the lives of SLMM personnel.

The parties also agreed to take steps to further strengthen the security situation on land, including the establishment of procedures with the cooperation of the SLMM for handling soldiers and cadres apprehended by the other party. In their political discussions, the parties reiterated their commitment to develop a federal system based on internal self-determination within a united Sri Lanka. As the point of departure for planning how to give effect to the general principles of federalism in a final settlement of the ethnic conflict, the parties discussed the essential elements of fiscal federalism.

The parties discussed preliminary issues and a framework for political matters and agreed to expand this into a complete plan at the seventh session of talks. The plan will outline the next steps to be taken by the parties and the topics that must be addressed in order to negotiate a federal solution for Sri Lanka. The parties recognise that a considerable amount of time will be required to address this wide range of topics, which will include geographical regions and the division of powers between the center and regions. In this context, the parties decided to invite the Forum of Federations, a Canadian-based international organization, to participate as consultants at the seventh session of talks.

The LTTE reported on the formation of a Political Affairs Committee consisting of twenty-one leading members of the organization. This committee will undertake an intensive study of federalism over the course of the next three months to build the LTTE’s capacity for political transformation. The committee will study federal systems in other parts of the world, arrange seminars for LTTE cadres, consult Tamil parliamentarians and academics and seek advice from lawyers and constitutional experts, to prepare the ground for the process of establishing internal self-determination within a united, federal Sri Lanka.

Following a proposal by the GOSL to prepare for local government elections in the North and East, the LTTE will favourably consider supporting the holding of such elections.

It was agreed that the rescheduled meeting between the LTTE and the Muslim representatives in Batticaloa be convened on 27 April 2003. Furthermore, the LTTE and Mr. Rauf Hakeem agreed to arrange a separate meeting between Muslim leaders and the leadership of the LTTE in Kilinochchi to discuss political matters and the participation of a Muslim delegation in negotiations at plenary sessions. The parties approved the proposal submitted by the Sub-Committee on Gender Issues to establish secretariats in Kilinochchi and Colombo.

Following up on the discussions in Berlin in February on human rights, the parties asked their international human rights adviser, Mr. Ian Martin, to develop three aspects of the proposed roadmap for adoption at the seventh session of talks:

The drafting of a Declaration of Human Rights and Humanitarian Principles. This would reflect aspects of fundamental international human rights and humanitarian standards, which both parties would undertake to ensure are respected in practice by their personnel, pending the full entrenchment of human rights standards in the eventual constitutional arrangements and in federal and local law.

The planning of a programme of human rights training for LTTE cadres and government officials, police and prison officials, which would contribute to the respect of these principles in practice, and of human rights education and awareness for other sections of the population. This programme would include specialised training offered by UNICEF in relation to the rights of the child, UNHCR in relation to rights of internally displaced persons and refugees, and ICRC in relation to international humanitarian law. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights would be invited to coordinate this programme.

Proposals for the strengthening of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to enable it to develop the capacity for increasingly effective monitoring throughout the country. These proposals would involve international advice and assistance to the HRC from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other sources, and close coordination with the roles of UNICEF in relation to child protection, UNHCR in relation to the protection of returning internally displaced persons and refugees, and SLMM in relation to acts against the civilian population.

The parties agreed to hold the seventh session of talks from 29 April to 2 May in Thailand, the eighth session from 12 to 15 June in Japan and the ninth session from 15 to 18 July in Europe (venue to be determined).” Source: Annexure 1, Human Rights Benchmarks in the Peace Process, Centre for Police Alternatives & Berghof Foundation, 2 April 2003.

Related events
6 January 2003
7 February 2003
April 2003
14 April 2003
10 June 2003

Source
Federal Sri Lanka is ‘only choice’, BBC, 9 December 2002.

Extracts from the Press Statement of Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“The third session of peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was held in Oslo, Norway on 2 to 5 December 2002. In a frank, open and constructive manner, the parties focused on three major areas:

Consolidation of the ceasefire
Humanitarian and rehabilitation action
Political matters

The parties agreed on a working outline defining the objective as well as a number of substantive political issues for negotiation.

Responding to a proposal by the leadership of the LTTE, the parties agreed to explore a solution founded on the principle of internal self-determination in areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples, based on a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka. The parties acknowledged that the solution has to be acceptable to all communities.

Guided by this objective, the parties agreed to initiate discussions on substantive political issues such as, but not limited to:

Power-sharing between the centre and the region, as well as within the centre
Geographical region
Human Rights protection
Political and administrative mechanism
Public finance
Law and order

The parties recognised that progress on political issues must be supported by the continued consolidation of the Ceasefire Agreement. New concrete measures will be taken to facilitate further de-escalation and to improve normalcy:

…
The LTTE will ensure that all future transportation of area commanders will take place under the supervision of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

The LTTE will accept the right of political groups to carry out political work, including in the Jaffna peninsula and the islands, provided that they are unarmed, as stipulated by the Ceasefire Agreement.

The GOSL will, in consultation with all relevant parties and groups, evolve a solution to the problems arising from recent developments in the Delft island.

The parties will facilitate restoration and rehabilitation of places of worship in the north and the east belonging to all religious communities.

On the basis of their firm conviction that the maintenance of law and order in the north and east is of paramount importance, the parties agreed to request the Sub-Committee on De-escalation and Normalization to propose a common approach to settling cases involving the disputed use of private property, where such use has been impeded by the conflict. Furthermore, the LTTE will ensure that the activities of their law and order mechanisms will not be extended beyond the areas dominated by the LTTE.

The parties strongly underlined the need to move rapidly on humanitarian and rehabilitation efforts in the north and east. For this purpose, the early establishment of the North-East Reconstruction Fund will be critical. The parties agreed that the custodian of the fund should be selected and modalities for its operation agreed at the next meeting of the Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs. The parties expressed their appreciation of the strong support extended by several governments to the peace process at the Sri Lanka Support Meeting held in Oslo on 25 November, and urged these governments to rapidly release funds needed for humanitarian and rehabilitation efforts.

The parties acknowledged the need to ensure that the priorities and needs of women are taken into account in all aspects of the peace process. To this effect, they agreed to establish a permanent advisory committee which will, on a regular basis, submit proposals relating to women’s interests to the sessions of negotiations and to the sub-committees of the peace process. The committee will consist of four representatives of each party.

As a priority area identified by the parties for humanitarian action, the parties stressed the need to improve the situation for children affected by armed conflict. Inspired by the international norms protecting the rights of the child, the parties underlined that children belong with their families or other custodians and not in the workplace, whether civilian or military. The LTTE will engage in a partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to draw up an action plan for restoring normalcy to the lives of children, and the parties called on the international community to provide financial support for such an action plan.

The GOSL will, in order to arrive at the broadest possible consensus, establish an appropriate mechanism for consultation with all segments of opinion as part of the ongoing peace process.” Source: Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka website, 5 December 2003.

Related events
22 February 2002
16 September 2002
2 December 2002
6 January 2003
7 February 2003
18 March 2003