SLFP proposals not ultimate document of party - Prof. Vitharana

Position made clear by SLFP General Secretary:

E. Weerapperuma

COLOMBO: The devolution proposals submitted by the SLFP is not a final document of the party but is subject to discussion and amendments, at the forum of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC), APRC Chairman, Minister Prof. Tissa Vitharana said.

"The APRC at the last meeting agreed that the basis for future discussion should be the document that the APRC Chairman has submitted. Political parties representing the APRC also agreed that where they hold different views from that of the views expressed in the document tabled by the APRC Chairman as the basis for discussion, they would submit specific amendments to the Chairman's views," Prof. Vitharana told the Daily News.

Prof. Vitharana said the SLFP Secretary General Minister Maithripala Sirisena while releasing the proposals at the May Day rally has clearly stated that what the party had released, was proposals for discussion.

"Hence it is not a proposal per se finale. It is a set of proposals for discussions," he explained.

The Minister expressed confidence that as articulated well by the SLFP Secretary General, the party would not stick to its proposals and views, but was prepared to consider other views and fall in line with the majority consensus after thorough discussions.

He told the Daily News that he would distribute the SLFP proposals among the Member parties of the APRC as that has been his practice.

Citing the unit of devolution as an example, he said the SLFP has ventured to propose the District Council system as the unit of devolution. It is a deviation from the position the APRC Chairman held. What he as APRC Chairman has proposed was the Provincial Councils system as the unit of devolution.

"At the APRC meeting, the SLFP would be expected to bring a specific amendment to the proposals made by the APRC Chairman. The majority will decide," he explained. "This majority consensus has necessarily to include both the UNP and the SLFP, the two major political parties in the country."

Asked whether the majority consensus include the parties that have come out strongly against the SLFP proposals, Prof. Vitharana said all parties have been invited to participate and air their proposals.

"Individual parties can, and I have invited them to submit their proposals. But as it is not practical to discuss each and every party proposal, by perusing through the document I have given them, they can bring specific amendments wherever they differ," he said.

Citing UNP proposals as an example, Prof. Vitharana said the UNP has submitted its proposals and when he as the APRC Chairman tabled the proposals, perusing through it the UNP brought an amendment to its own document.

"So it will not be difficult for the SLFP to bring their proposals by way of an amendment to the APRC Chairman's proposals, the basis of APRC discussion, as the SLFP Secretary General has said what they released was a set of proposals and open for discussion in the best interest of the country."