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by Uditha Kumarasinghe

People's Alliance yesterday said if the Government is giving consideration to the PA proposals for an interim administration proposed in the 2000 PA Draft Constitution, such consideration should cover the entire draft constitution.

"We do not want a truncated approach to this fact. The PA interim council was linked to a final settlement on this problem. All the references to an interim council was inevitably linked from the time of late President J. R. Jayewardene to a settlement of the core issues and the signing of a peace agreement," PA Media Spokesman Dr.Sarath Amunugama told the PA weekly media briefing yesterday.

The PA offered the 2000 draft proposal as an inter-related set of proposals. So the PA cannot agree to any piece meal proposals in which the Government is interested ." Let them take the whole constitution which they discussed with the President for seven months," he said.

"However, we want to mention that they (UNP) were the very people who burnt that constitution. At that time, the UNP threatened the then PA Government, barricaded Parliament and brought the Sangha on to the streets and burnt that constitution. Now the UNP has found virtues in that."

Amunugama said the interim council does not stand by itself. But is inevitably linked to a final, full and comprehensive settlement of the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka highlighted in the proposals of President J. R. Jayawardene, R.Premadasa and President Kumaratunga.

"If the Government is going to take this out of the context, we have to rethink the decision. The Government is decepting the people of this country by trying to link it with our proposed constitution," he said.

However this does not mean that the PA is not aware of the sufferings and the problems of the Tamil people. As a party, we have a good record of standing up for the rights of the Tamil people in this country, particularly all the communities in the North and East.

The PA strongly urge that the rehabilitation process must take place and the suffering of the Tamil people in the North and East must be addressed.

Meanwhile the PA also raised five points responding to the Prime Minister's address to the nation on Thursday.

Firstly, PA needs further details on the interim administration and secondly their proposals must be taken as a totality which are included in their 2000 draft constitution. Thirdly PA emphasises that the Interim Council is not a final package and fourthly the party's concern for the Tamil people. As the fifth point, PA said meeting the LTTE is not a problem to them as a democratic party.

Amunugama said the Premier did not elaborate on what he meant by setting up an interim council in his speech. We want to know what is the structure of that council and powers and functions of it has not been spelt out. Then the PA will make its response to that.

However Minister Prof.G.L.Peiris refered to the setting up of the office of two special commissions, one for the North-East and the powers that will devolve to District Development Councils.

The first thing the PA wants to mention is the Government's way of doing business is very strange. This is the third offer that the Government has made to the LTTE.

"On this matter, we have to examine all the ramifications of a Presidential decision. Powers of the President will be used at the appropriate time and in an appropriate manner in her judgement. Our party or any other organisation cannot force the President to act. That is a matter in our constitution which is left entirely to the discretion of the President," he said.

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