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| Sunday, 23 November 2003 |
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PM to take charge of peace process by DON ASOKA WIJEWARDENA The Committee of National Consensus, after a marathon discussion late into Friday night came to a mutual agreement that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should take charge of the peace process and that the peace talks should proceed without any further delays. Reliable sources told the Sunday Observer that the Committee, chaired by Mano Tittawela, Advisor to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, and Malik Samarawickrema, Chairman, United National Party, had, after lengthy discussion, agreed that Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe should head the peace process and that the stalled peace talks should be resumed soon. Sources also said that President Kumaratunga, when informed of the mutual agreement, had welcomed the decision and indicated that she had no objections to the Premier taking charge of peace talks. Sunday Observer reliably learns that the PM had been informed of the agreement and had not raised any objections. The question of who should handle the peace negotiations has been a contentious issue, with the Prime Minister insisting that the President should take over peace negotiations as the Defence Ministry comes under her purview, and the President maintaining that the PM should continue to handle it, as he has been doing so since the signing of the MoU with the LTTE. The Norwegian facilitators early this month temporarily stepped down from their mediatory role, citing lack of clarity as to who is heading the peace talks as a major impediment to continuing with the negotiations. Friday's late night agreement, political analysts said should put the talks back on track. The Committee of National Consensus, appointed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, following their second round of meeting on November 18, has been working around the clock to formulate a national consensus on key issue of defence, economy, the role of the media, independent Police and Election commission and take the peace process forward. They have been given a December 15 deadline to finalise a national consensus. The Committee, which also includes W.J.S.Karunaratna (Secretary to the President) and Bradman Weerakoon (Secretary to the Prime Minister) has also been given the mandate to looking into how to solve the current crisis. According to reliable sources, the Committee having reached an agreement over PM's full participation in the peace process, will now focus its attention on defence, security and major economic areas of the country and work towards similar agreements by means of mutual discussions with the President and the Prime Minister, who are scheduled to have a third round of talks shortly. Meanwhile, four sub committees (two from President Chandrika Kumaratunga and another two from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe) are to be appointed next week to analyse important national issues and recommend practical solutions to the Committee of National Consensus. UNP President Malik Samarawickrema will appoint two and Laxman Kadirgamar MP will appoint the other two. Members for these committees will be selected from professional bodies attached to both parties and their main function will be to closely observe, analyse emerging issues of national importance and forward them to the Committee of National Consensus, the ultimate decision-making body. A senior UNP spokesman told the Sunday Observer that the UNP was keen to reach a working arrangement with the President, especially to achieve lasting peace in the country. He said that the sub committees would be required to work in most sensitive areas of national issues in different sections of the State machinery and carry out in-depth analyses of emerging issues pertaining to national interest and closely monitor defence, economy and national security. |
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