This would mean a tremendous accession of wealth through the aid that the countries are giving. This would mean a tremendous accession of foreign investment. It will mean tourism looks up again and employment is available for our people. It should mean also the increase of wages to government servants. Let us consider the chances of peace resulting from the least devolution proposals.
Past experience is an obvious guide.
It may come as a surprise to many that devolution of power is nothing new, that it has taken place over the past sixteen years, and that we already have a highly advanced scheme of devolution. The successive steps, and the successive responses, are worth tracing. The District Development councils Act of 1980 recognised the district as the unit of devolution. In August 1985, under pressure from the TULF and India, the unit of devolution was enlarged from district to province. The TULF and the LTTE both eventually rejected this.