SLFP to handover party proposals to APRC today

Uditha Kumarasinghe

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will officially handover its set of proposals to the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) today whereby it intends to seek a solution to the country’s decade old ethnic problem and create a sustainable development and good governance within the country’s administrative structure.

SLFP General Secretary Minister Maitripala Sirisena will present these set of proposals to APRC Chairman Minister Prof. Tissa Vitharana.

“This is a home grown model formulated by the SLFP based on the Grama Rajya concept. This is not a final solution. This is only a set of proposals put forward by the SLFP as an approach to reach a common consensus on key major issues. Modalities will be worked out later,” Chairman of the SLFP Committee appointed to prepare these set of proposals Minister Prof. Viswa Warnapala told a media briefing yesterday.

“A common consensus should be reached with other political parties at the All Party Conference to transform this SLFP document into Government proposals,” he said.

“The SLFP firmly stands for a negotiated settlement based on the devolution of power. As enunciated in the Mahinda Chintana, we have formulated this indigenous model by safeguarding the country’s unitary State, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We have also proposed a mechanism to prevent the separatist tendencies in the country.”

Through these proposals, the SLFP has proposed a Parliamentary model of Government and a Cabinet system of Government led by the Prime Minister. The SLFP intends to abolish the Executive Presidency if a national consensus is reached upon. Otherwise it would be continued with certain amendments, the Minister said.

“According to the SLFP proposals, we have recognised the district as the unit of devolution. If it is necessary, provisions have been introduced to amalgamate two districts. There are 25 districts. It has been proposed to increase this up to 30 based on demographic and geographic factors. All these amalgamations will be made by safeguarding the rights of the minority communities,” he said.

Prof. Warnapala said: “According to our set of proposals, we have devolved power to the people and not to institutions. We also intend to amend the present Municipal Council and Urban Council Acts and to formulate a Consolidated Local Government Act.

“The SLFP is a strong political party. It is not only a political party but also a political phenomenon. The SLFP believes the people should adopt new measures to make a fresh start. Therefore the SLFP has presented these set of proposals to take the country forward and find a solution to the country’s national problem.”

Minister Sirisena said the SLFP Central Committee has unanimously adopted these set of proposals. The draft of these proposals were announced at the PA May Day rally on April 30.

Various successive Governments have put forward their proposals on the North and East problem. Sometimes, these proposals have been praised and sometimes such proposals have been highly criticised.

Therefore President Mahinda Rajapaksa once he assumed duties called the All Party Conference (APC) to find a lasting solution to the ethnic problem. In addition, the APRC was also appointed to obtain the views of the political parties, he said.

According to the Minister, the APRC has met 28 times while the APC has met five times under President Rajapaksa’s patronage. This clearly indicates that the SLFP has acted in a more responsible manner to find a solution to the ethnic problem.”

“We invite all political parties to express their views in this regard. This is not our final proposals. These SLFP proposals should be further discussed at the APC.”

Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said: “This is only a beginning. Through these proposals we intend to reach a consensus among political parties on key major issues. Then we can go for a solution based on these factors.”

The Minister said if the UNP was so concerned about the country, why don’t they submit their proposals. This shows the political dishonesty on the part of the UNP.

Information and Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said these proposals were formulated after extensive discussions by the SLFP Central Committee.

This is a very democratic document formulated by the SLFP.