Peace Secretariat forms steering group

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Government since April 2006 have taken a number of initiatives to facilitate the realisation of a negotiated settlement to resolve the national problem, the Peace Secretariat said.

Significant among them is the endeavour to develop constitutional proposals with broad support. The main aim has been to find an indigenous solution to end decades of internal strife, and enable all people to give in dignity and peace in Sri Lanka, the Secretariat said.

The Government has emphasised the fact that the task of finding a political solution to the national question requires a multi-party effort and an inclusive approach.

This involved the formation of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) and the appointment of a Panel of Experts on July 11 in the hope of reaching a national consensus among political parties.

The APRC continues with discussions and its Chairman believes they will soon be able to formulate a proposal to submit to the All Party Conference (APC).

The Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process has established a steering group to look at Confidence Building Measures through Constitutional Reform, to suggest areas in which consensus might be relatively easily obtained, as opposed to the more complex question of units of devolution and their powers.

Examples include reform of the electoral system and the establishment of a second chamber, along with increasing recruitment of minorities to the public service and the Armed Forces.

The Secretariat has established links with the Muslim Peace Secretariat and has attempted to renew links with the LTTE Peace Secretariat at least to obtain their views on the above easily agreed topics.

Meetings with representatives of minority parties and interests have indicated areas in which Confidence Building Measures might be pursued. Discussions on this have commenced with the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs as well as the APRC and exemplars have been sought from relevant bodies, Peace Secretariat added.