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An amendment to the constitution to implement an interim administration with a pivotal role for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam would never win a two-thirds majority in the parliament assured Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Leader of Opposition of Sri Lanka’s parliament. The necessary amendment to the constitution, to implement an interim administration for the Northern and Eastern Provinces if adopted at the Thailand talks between the Colombo government and the Tamil rebels would never win a two thirds majority of the Sri Lanka parliament to become part of the country’s supreme law said Rajapaksa in an interview with this correspondent in Los Angeles. While on his way to the United Nations in New York the Leader of Sri Lanka’s official Opposition stopped over in Los Angeles and offered alms to the monks at the Dharmavijaya Buddhist Temple led by Venerable Weihene Pannaloka and Venerable Walpola Piyananda in memory of the late S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike. He was interviewed at the temple following the alms giving. Mr. Rajapaksa stressed that the government of Ranil Wickremesinghe would have to seek an amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution to grant an interim administration to the LTTE and that would need a two thirds majority of the parliament. The opposition leader said he was certain that the government could not win such a majority. Even after the unlikely event of passing the amendment with such a majority the government would have to go a referendum in the country to adopt the amendment, the Leader of Opposition said. Speaking of the proposed Interim Administration, LTTE’s Chief negotiator Anton Balasingham told a press conference at the conclusions of the first session of the direct talks between the UNF government and the LTTE in Thailand, “The LTTE must be given a role, a pivotal role to play and that we have been fighting in the last 20 years and we were involved in a violent crucial war and you must give a place and opportunity for our fighters, our cadre to run the administration in our own homeland. What is wrong in that ?” Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the People’s Alliance was totally against to grant an interim administration to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam before coming to a settlement with them on core issues. “After coming to such a settlement,”said Rajapaksa, “an interim administration should be started temporarily until permanent constitutional bodies could be established. Here, what the government was trying to do was to allow them run a government without any agreed basis on issues.” The Leader of the Opposition said the polity of Sri Lanka was a multi-party one and in any administration of any province that quality and the human rights of all citizens had to be guaranteed. He said the LTTE’s claim of being the sole representative did not comply with that reality. He pointed out that areas under the control of the Sri Lanka government could be reached by everybody but areas under the control of the LTTE could not be approached by everybody freely. Protesting against the alleged child recruitment in the Tiger controlled areas and outside, Mahinda Rajapaksa said , international monitors should be appointed to monitor human rights violations. He said he was for peace and he did not consider any peace talks in a negative sense. But Mahinda Rajapaksa alleged that the government was trying to use the word peace and was trying to sell profitable state owned businesses like insurance for a song and introduce the hire and fire regulations of the United States in Sri Lanka canceling all rights won by the working classes. Even the Employees Provident Fund would be privatized making workers penniless paupers at the age of retirement, he alleged. He said what was happening in the peace process might be orchestrated public relations events agreed long time before in a separate agreement between the UNP and the LTTE. The People’s Alliance tried to tell the voters in Sri lanka about that during the last elections but it was rejected by the voters he said. The Leader of Opposition said all executive powers of the country still rested with the President Chandrika Kumaratunga and in any emergency if the country was in imminent danger she could use them. He also warned the 19th amendment proposed to the constitution by the government also lacked the two-thirds majority in the parliament to take effect. The People’s Alliance was against the piecemeal reduction of powers of the President but would support any attempt to replace it with a more efficient system, Rajapaksa said. He believed that the UNP wanted to keep the system for the future without abolishing it. (EOM) (02/09/23 go2lanka.com) |