APRC to present proposals soon
Rashomi Silva
COLOMBO: All Party Representative Committee (APRC) will shortly
present its proposals on power devolution and try to facilitate
resolution of the ethnic conflict, Committee Chairman Minister Tissa
Vitharana said.
Vitharana said the Committee will try to reach consensuses among
different points of view expressed by representatives from different
political parties.
"In the next meeting we will explore possibilities of reaching a
consensus among different views expressed," Minister Vitharana said. The
Minister said he was hopeful the main opposition UNP will be present in
the meetings that will follow.
"The UNP said they need time to study the interim reports and the
discussions that took place upto now, and we are hopeful that the party
will send their representatives to the APRC form next year," the
Minister said.
Meanwhile Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa in a media release
said it was sad to note that the experts panel could not agree on one
set of proposals and had instead forwarded four set of proposals.
He said the proposals too reflect the different views on the
North-East issue in Sri Lankan society.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa early this year appointed a multi- ethnic
body of legal luminaries and Constitutional experts to facilitate a
home-grown solution to the ethnic crisis. The APRC and the Panel of
Experts were said to offer some guideline but was given a free hand in
arriving at its own proposals.
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