Malinda Seneviratne’s tactic in his latest response to me on the 13th amendment (The Island, Wednesday July 15th) is both transparent and a little tacky.

President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a recent interview (recorded June 30th), given to N Ram the Editor in chief of The Hindu that:

"Even today somebody said: "The 13th Amendment. We are not for…" I called them and gave them a piece of my mind." This was part of an answer to N Ram’s question which was as follows: "Now about your political solution. You talked about the 13th Amendment plus".

In case Malinda thinks that this is a (Marxist-Leninist?) misinterpretation or "reading", I refer him to two official documents which the Government of Sri Lanka has disseminated through strictly institutional channels, and which therefore represent the position of the Sri Lankan State. These are the joint statements of May 21st and 23rd 2009 issued at the conclusion of the visits to Colombo of the high level Indian delegation and that of the UN Secretary General respectively. I quote:

"Both sides also emphasized the urgent necessity of arriving at a lasting political settlement in Sri Lanka. Towards this end, the Government of Sri Lanka indicated that it will proceed with implementation of the 13th Amendment. …Further, the Government of Sri Lanka also intends to begin a broader dialogue with all parties including, the Tamil parties in the new circumstances, for further enhancement of political arrangements to bring about lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka." (May 21, 2009)

"President Rajapaksa expressed his firm resolve to proceed with the implementation of the 13th Amendment, as well as to begin a broader dialogue with all parties, including the Tamil parties in the new circumstances, to further enhance this process and to bring about lasting peace and development in Sri Lanka". (May 23, 2009)  

I also commend to Malinda, the first paragraph of the article by fellow critic of the 13th amendment, Mr. Neville Ladduwahetty in yesterday’s Island, which quotes the Foreign Minister of India addressing the Indian Parliament, as follows:

‘India’s External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna had informed the Indian Parliament that India had been assured of the Sri Lankan Government’s intention for "the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, and go beyond, so as to achieve meaningful devolution of powers" ’(Daily Mirror, July 11, 2009).