RAUFF HAKEEM INSISTS ON 50-50 REPRESENTATION FOR MUSLIMS IN AN INTERIM GOVERNMENT FOR THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN PROVINCES
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
July 09.09.40 PM:Minister Rauf Hakeem, the leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress strongly insisted on a fifty-fifty policy regarding representation for Muslims in whatever interim government for the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka.
Rauf Hakeem recently told BBC’s Sandeshaya that it was extremely essential for the Muslims fifty percent of the representation in whatever governing council proposed by the government for the administration of the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the island.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had demanded a LTTE dominated Interim Council for the governance of the two provinces of Sri Lanka.
The LTTE leaders have been quoted as stating that their demand for a LTTE interim government was based on pre-election promises given by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to them.
Based on that and other promises the leader of the LTTE Velupillai Prabhakaran appealed to the Tamil people to vote for the Ranil Wickremesinghe led United National Front and defeat President Chandrika Kumaratunga led People’s Alliance at the last parliamentary elections.
But due to extreme opposition from the country’s main opposition parties, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and also due to the unconstitutionality of such a move the government has been unable to grant the LTTE demand. S.L. Gunasekera , a leading lawyer and President of the Sinhala Jathika Sangamaya recently threatened to block any such move through the Supreme Courts.
Fifty-fifty, a policy once demanded by Tamil politicians just after independence for the country’s Tamil representation in the parliament on par with the country’s Sinhala majority who were 70 per cent of the population was later abandoned.
The country’s Eastern Province is having a population equally divided between the Sinhalese , the Muslims and the Tamils. But the Northern province is having a Tamil majority.
Rauf Hakeem did not say how the other communities should be represented in the interim council. He also did not say how the Muslims could have 50 per cent of the representation in an interim administration dominated by the LTTE as demanded by the LTTE.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader said that he had already informed his intentions to government negotiators G.L.Peiris and Milinda Moragoda and the Sri Lanka High Commissioner in London, Faiz Mustapha.
Asked by a BBC interviewer how he could put forward these demands when the LTTE was not even coming yet for peace negotiations Rauf Hakeem said if any negotiations were started it was very essential to know what the Muslim representation should be. He said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had accepted on principle that the Muslim proposal should be discussed.
