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by Uditha Kumarasinghe

JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva on Tuesday threw a charge that the PA and the UNP were trying to grab power by compromising the unitary status of the country.

Addressing a news conference in Colombo Silva said that while the present national problem was the burning issue of the country, the two major parties were confusing facts as to the solution. There are so many unrevealed facts behind these solutions, he said.

The view of the JVP is the national problem should be settled within a unitary state. He said " The PA has submitted distorted facts regarding the problem we face. It has proposed the devolution of power as the solution, through the forming of a United Sri Lanka. But there is a huge difference between this United Sri Lanka and Unitary Sri Lanka."

If the PA accepts a United Sri Lanka that means it has already agreed to the division of power. Even today Sri Lanka is a unitary state. Therefore through this initiative, the PA attempts to divide some provinces legally. This is a serious fact that is of deep concern to the public.

He said the mandate received by the PA was to introduce a new Constitution. But after the Constitution is drawn up, the people's will should be consulted.

The JVP position is that the PA to present its Constitution to the people first and conduct a referendum. Winning the election is by itself insufficient, he said.

Silva said the PA manifesto mentioned that the Government would conduct talks with the LTTE. They have not mentioned the basis of these discussions. In this situation, PA has failed to express their stand and there are some hidden facts behind the PA manifesto.

Commenting on the UNP manifesto he said the UNP has proposed an Interim Administration in the North-East for a short duration. But it mentions no time frame, he said.

" In a recent TV interview UNP Media Spokesman Karunasena Kodituwakku said the interim administration would be set up in collaboration with all the political parties represented in Parliament. The JVP had sent a letter to the UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe requesting to explain his position on the interim administration."

The UNP Assistant Leader Gamini Athukorale however had in a letter to the JVP said the interim administration would be formed by the administrative officers of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. There was a huge disparity between these two answers, Silva said.

All it indicated was that even the UNP leaders had no understanding of what they were planning to do.

According to the agreement signed with the Tamil Alliance, only the UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe may know the actual truth of the situation, he said.

Silva alleged that the English version of the UNP manifesto had deleted the words of a " short duration". It only mentions an interim administration will be given to North-East provinces. This revealed in what direction the attempts are being made by the UNP to grab power in association with the Tamil Alliance.

The removal of the Lead Story in last Sunday's Divaina page one, and its replacement was an indication of the seriousness of the problem. The rejected lead headlined " Eelama Vitharak Apata Madi " had mentioned that the Tamil Alliance has not only demanded Eelam but also defining the boundaries of the Eelam state, he said.

The Nation Building Program of the JVP has clearly mentioned that this national problem should be settled through creating equality among all communities of the nation. If discussions are conducted with the LTTE, they should withdraw the demands on Tamil Eelam and dividing the country, he added.

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