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Referendum on conflict agreement - PM

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared that a referendum will be held to obtain the consent of the entire nation on the agreement that will be reached following talks between the LTTE for the resolution of the ethnic conflict.

The premier made this statement to Journalists of the North and East who visited Temple Trees after attending a workshop at Wadduwa organised by the Centre for Conflict Resolution Media on Tuesday.

To a question put by a journalist on the legitimacy of the ceasefire agreement Premier Wickremesinghe said although the President was the executive head of the country all policy decisions are taken and implemented by the Cabinet of Ministers. Therefore this problem would not arise.

The Premier said "A political solution meant the gathering together of all groups and ideas. But there are still differences between each group. We are attempting to narrow these differences."

He said this is the first step on the road to peace. There is a long way to go yet. We have to take our next step with thought. We will proceed step by step.

"However the Journey will be difficult. There will be mine fields on the way. We could also get lost.

We will have to find our way back and forge ahead. However we are determined to see an end to this journey".

P. Manikkawasagam of the North East Tamil Journalists Guild pledged total backing to the Prime Minister's peace efforts. Like they were invited to Colombo for a workshop, they too would take steps to invite their Sinhala Journalist colleagues to Jaffna and Wanni for a similar workshop.

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