President's team for Geneva talks well prepared - Liberal Party

COLOMBO: The Liberal Party states that the team sent for discussion with the LTTE by President Mahinda Rajapakse was well prepared and was far ahead and straight forward than the teams sent by UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at earlier occasions.

The Liberal Party in a statement on the Geneva talks said:

"The Geneva joint declaration states that the Sri Lankan Government in Geneva has ratified the 2002 ceasefire agreement of Ranil Wickremesinghe and Velupillai Prabhakaran by words, deeds and behaviour.

The declaration is not an amendment to the 2002 ceasefire agreement but an addendum, ratification and an endorsement.

At Geneva, the Government had come down from the imaginary world of rhetoric to the true world of reality.

The LTTE attempt to get the Karuna faction crushed by the Sri Lankan Forces has completely failed.

The Liberal Party clearly states that the Karuna faction is a party to the conflict and therefore should be given a seat in the negotiating table.

As Karuna stands for anti-fascist sentiments and more democratic reforms towards devolution he is regarded a very popular political figure in both North and South.

As "inclusiveness" is part and parcel of the new approach to peace, the Liberal Party feels that the Karuna faction and a Muslim delegation should be accommodated in the next round of talks.

The Liberal Party states that the team sent for discussion by President Mahinda Rajapakse was well prepared and was far ahead and straightforward than teams sent by Ranil Wickremesinghe at earlier occasions.

The Liberal Party will support a final political solution based on the principle of shared rule and self-rule.

An interim solution should always be linked to a final solution. The Liberal Party reminds parties to abstain from killings and violence till the next round of talks."