PA, UNP agree on interim council

By Nirupamam Subramanian

COLOMBO, JUNE 14. The ruling People's Alliance (PA) and the United National Party (UNP) today resolved their differences over the unit of devolution in the Tamil-dominated areas of Sri Lanka by agreeing that pending constitutional reforms, an interim council would govern the de-linked north and eastern provinces.

The interim council would include the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, if the separatist group wished to participate in it, official sources said.

However, a final decision will be taken only after consultations with the Tamil parties which will form the main membership. The proposal to de-link the north and the east may be the first stumbling block to getting the Tamil parties' nod.

The agreement between the PA and the UNP was hammered out at a meeting here, the third this week between the two sides.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, which is also expected to play a role in the interim council, is part of the PA coalition and was represented by its leader, Mr M H A Ashraff.

The two delegations are scheduled to meet again on June 21 with written formulations of what was broadly agreed upon today.

The powers of the interim council will be those contained in the devolution proposals which are being finalised. Except on the issue of control over land use, the PA and UNP have virtually no differences on the powers to be devolved to the regions.

The sources said there were four broad areas of agreement: 1) there would be one interim council to govern two separate provinces, the north and the east; 2) the composition of the council would include all parties, implying that the LTTE may be invited to join it; 3) there would be power-sharing arrangements for the minorities in the two provinces, that is the Sinhalese and the Muslims; 4) a referendum would be held after a specified period of time to decide the issue of merger of the two provinces.

A gazette notification for an interim council in the north-east was issued last December, prior to the Presidential elections but the government did not act on it then.

The UNP leader, Mr Ranil Wickremsinghe, also stated then that if elected, he would put in place an interim council. At the time, the promise became controversial because of Mr Wickrmemsinghe's reported statement that he would consider handing over the council to the LTTE.

But with today's broad agreement between the two main political formations, the ball is now back in the court of the Tamil parties.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Next     : Kims resume talks on families, economy