While alleging that President and National Policies Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has not fulfilled his promise to sign the relevant documents to return the powers of the Provincial Councils (PC) that have been taken over by the Central Government, Thamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani Leader and Jaffna District Opposition Parliamentarian C.V. Wigneswaran said that the former talking about the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution from time to time is a mere political gimmick.

The President had recently said that the 13th Amendment would be fully implemented without Police powers.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (7), Wigneswaran said that it is a serious question as to whether the President intends to give any powers to the PCs at all. "He promised us that all PCs' powers that have been taken over by the Central Government would be handed back. We agreed to have an expert committee on the matter and everything was ready, but he (Wickremesinghe) did not sign the relevant documents to make it legal by issuing a gazette notification. He said that he would sign it on or before 01 September of last year (2023). Five months have passed since then, but he is yet to do it," he added. Charging that the President is not interested in granting any powers under the 13th Amendment, he said that the former is only interested in making statements and making sure that he would get the votes of the Tamil community in an upcoming Election, commenting that: "He is also targeting what is going to happen at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland. When he says that he would give something to the Tamils, they (UNHRC) will be happy, so he makes statements from time to time. This is all a mere political gimmick." Speaking further, Wigneswaran, who was also the Chief Minister of the Northern PC earlier, said: "The 13th Amendment itself says that there will be limited powers for the PCs. Who is he to come and say that he would implement the 13th Amendment without this and that? It is already the law. The people think that the Tamils have to be given things, but, there is nothing like that. They are entitled to all constitutionally established rights. The President will keep making these sorts of statements until the Presidential Election is held and he will do nothing at all."

The frequent issues that the Northern people face include the occupation of their lands by the military forces and State Departments and the non-implementation of the 13th Amendment in full. President Wickremesinghe in recent times had a series of discussions with several MPs including Wigneswaran who represent the Tamil community to discuss the resolution of the issues, and said that he would make sure that the 13th Amendment would be implemented in full, but, a significant solution to their issues is yet to be provided.