Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord Act of 1987 How Could Pave the Path to Political Stability in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, the civil war fought from 1983 to 2009 was shaped by ethnic rivalry between the majority Sinhala and the minority Tamil. On the surface level whether the end result was defeating the Tamil militancy (LTTE) by Sri Lanka's government military forces, this ethnic rivalry resulted in political instability long lasted for 30 years. Sri Lanka's civil war phenomena had its foreign interferences likewise China, India, USA, and Pakistan, and from those countries, the Indian impact was very heavy in terms of foreign intervention. The Indo-Lanka peace accord signed on 29th July 1987 demanded the Sri Lanka government to devolve power to the provinces and it included Sri Lanka to merge the northern and Eastern provinces into one administrative unit. Devolution of power and establishment of provincial councils act were crucial demands from the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord Act. The 13th amendment to the constitution mentioning devolved power by creating 09 provinces also resulted from the Indo-Sri Lanka peace accord whether it is still not powered by the Sri Lankan government. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to explore the power devolution demand action to the provincial councils derived through the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord and examine how those changes could pave the path to political stability in Sri Lanka. To reach the above-mentioned objective, a qualitative method was used, which was primarily based on secondary data gathered from diverse sources including journal articles, reports, and related literature. This study comparatively focus on Nigerian example of Federalism and what about we can gain through their experience and also what we can accept or avoid. The research findings suggest the relationship between federalism and political stability in Sri Lanka and how a healthy federation can be a political panacea for political instability.