APRC final draft ready next month

Chamikara Weerasinghe

COLOMBO: The final draft of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa for preparing proposals to find a political solution for the national question, will be ready by the end of next month.

The draft is expected to be prepared in concurrence with all political parties represented in the Committee. APRC chairman Prof. Tissa Vitharana said that the Committee was planing to come up with the final draft by the middle of August.

Commenting on the progress the APRC has made in formulating the proposals so far, Prof. Vitharana said that the process was at the intermediate level.

“We have many areas agreed upon by all political parties as of now,” the professor said.

Asked to reveal what the areas were, he said he did not want to declare them until the draft is complete.

“We have had a considerable number of meetings over the last few weeks regarding the matter, and were able to reach a consensus in many areas,” he explained.

Asked if there were any disparities between the UNP and SLFP over the unit of devolution, Prof. Vitharana said there were different opinions and views regarding some matters.

“But all parties represented in the APRC, can come to a settlement regarding these issues by way of discussion, which the APRC is doing at the moment,” he said.

“The APRC is meeting on a regular basis to discuss these matters. I think we can reach a consensus over these outstanding areas in the next few weeks to conclude the final draft,” he said.