Tabling of interim report at Constitutional Assembly in Parliament :
The hope for a just political solution has been renewed with the tabling of the long awaited interim report of the Steering Committee and six Sub Committees on the new Constitution, at the Constitutional Assembly in Parliament today (21),said TNA MP and member of Steering Committee M.A.Sumanthiran.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday night, he said they had reached consensus on the reports and members who had reservations were allowed to note down their observations in its annex.
He added that even the Joint Opposition which has been highly critical of the process, finally agreed to the report having noted their observations.
The MP believed that if the proposals are approved, they could all work out a power devolution mechanism which went beyond the 13th Amendment.
The Constitution making process has received wide criticism as well as praise and as the government balances the precarious job of catering to the aspirations of the people both in the North and South but the Leader of the Opposition is acutely aware that his time is running short,
“Whether we will be able to carry the Tamil people with us or not will depend on the political solution we get. If we get a good political solution the people will be with us. If not, we will not ask the people to be with us, we will tell them don’t accept it,” R.Sampanthan said.
He added that we could not afford to lose this opportunity to make things right, “We will do our best to make use of this opportunity to the maximum. We have to come to a fair and just solution and now it is also the responsibility of the government to deliver.”
The former TNA leader asked that the President and Prime Minister too do their part and guide their own parties to achieve a positive result. He feared that attempts made by the Joint Opposition and the former President to arouse suspicion among the Sinhalese could derail the process and thus asked that the leaders take on a more active role in guiding the people in the right direction.
“If we do not act in fear of extremists, we will not get anywhere,” Sumanthiran said.
Having fought for a just solution for over three decades, it has been imperative that Sampanthan gets this right this time around,
“In the end we cannot agree to everything. We cannot sell our people and the President and Prime Minister know this”, said Sampanthan but he was hopeful that, “there is a chance that a fair solution can come of this”.