A 'centre and regions' in Sri Lanka

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, JUNE 29. The ruling People's Alliance (PA) and the Opposition United National Party (UNP), who will meet for a last round of negotiations tomorrow, have agreed on the crucial issue of the nature of the state.

A press release from the Presidential Secretariat late tonight said in discussions on Wednesday, it was agreed that the Sri Lankan Republic under the new Constitution will consist of a centre and regions, and that the legislative and executive powers of the Republic will be distributed between the two.

Thus the new formulation is a compromise between maintaining the territorial integrity of the Republic and devloving powers to the regions. This is different from the present formulation under which Sri Lanka is a unitary state.

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