EPDP welcomes SLFP-UNP pact

COLOMBO: The Memorandum of Understanding entered into by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the ruling Party of Sri Lanka and the Main Opposition, the United National Party is a historic turning point towards a positive change in Sri Lankan politics where citizens of all ethnicities could feel happy about.

We the Eelam People's Democratic Party while endorsing this pact accept it wholeheartedly with open-mindedness, the EPDP said in a statement issued yesterday.

It said, the pact entered into, no doubt is destined to be accepted by every one who wish well to his country with much happiness and enthusiasm for resolving long lasting burning issues, dawning of peace and harmony in this land of ours, strengthening unity among different ethnic communities, well-being of the working class and most importantly the envisaged change of social landscape of our society.

Tigers many not accept the agreement arrived at between the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the main Opposition, the United National Party but all the Tamil speaking people of this country welcome this significantly important pact. Whilst the Tigers have launched a destructive war, dragging the Tamil speaking people to a total doom in the guise of a liberation manoeuvre. We, the EPDP have been consistently with the Tamil speaking people right throughout, resorting to concerted comforts for their well-being and security.

Similarly, we are the only organised group that have identified the true aspirations or assertions of Tamil speaking people. Having realised this well, we lucidly express that Tamil speaking people need to co-exist in a peaceful united Sri Lanka.

Our past experience amply reveals that whenever the ruling party was in the process of finding a solution to the national conflict, the opposition never co-operated or stifled the process, and when the opposition came into power, they too had to face the same music, this has been the bitter political legacy of our country.

Though this recurrent rivalry in politics has been one of the reasons for our failure to provide with a political solution to the ethnic conflict, the Tigers intransigence to make use of opportunities emerged is the main reason for our failure to solve the ethnic crisis.

As the Tigers are interested only in continuing the destructive war, they are all out in favour of a rift in between the Government and the Opposition. We, the EPDP has been right throughout campaigning for promotion of peace and unity among people and never wished animosity to prevail between the Government and the Opposition. It's because of this political standing that the EPDP is going that extra mile for dawning of peace to this country.

Tigers, in the future will not be in a position to lie to the public to the effect that the rift in between the Government and Opposition is the barrier for arriving at a peaceful settlement to the ethnic issue and get involved in destructive politics. They need to realise that they no longer can cheat people to gain their ends".