In an apparent negative signal to the Tamil political parties that aspire to join the proposed All-party government, former Chief Minister of Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran said that President Ranil Wickremesinghe appears to be in a hurry to rope in Jaffna MPs to be part of the Government, to showcase to Geneva.
Mr. Wigneswaran who is also the leader of the Tamil Peoples’ National Alliance (TPNA) said in a statement that the Government has so far ignored its obligations to the UN as per Resolution 46/1 of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Explaining what transpired during a meeting between representatives of his party and President Ranil Wickremesinghe last Wednesday, the former Supreme Court judge said that the President wanted him to share a document which outlines the proposal on how money could be channelled into the Country from the Diaspora.
“It became apparent to us while discussing with him that his plan was to strengthen the central administrative control of the entire Country, totally ignoring the 13th Amendment to the Constitution,” Wigneswaran said.
The TPNA leader stated that it was pointed out to the President during the discussion that in order to enable the Tamils to give political leadership and governance over their provinces, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution should be implemented in full as a temporary measure until satisfactory constitutional reforms are made. “We told the President that until this process is started in earnest satisfying the Tamil people, we will support the Government from the Opposition.
There was no question of our becoming a part of the Government,” he asserted.
“I pointed out to the President that the Tamil people in this country expect the government to take speedy action to attend to their requests submitted by all Tamil National party leaders which included the release of political prisoners; action to trace the missing persons; stop the activities of various government departments to grab Tamil lands and stop persons trying to build Buddhist temples in Tamil homeland with the help of the Military and so on,” he added.
Wigneswaran who supported Wickremesinghe during the July 20 vote in the Parliament to elect the President also said that although the President assured them that he would take action to implement their requests and invited them to join the Government, they felt the impending Geneva meeting was more important to him than solving the Tamils’ problems.