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| Sunday, 21 December 2003 |
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President offers to share defence powers by DEEPAL WARNAKULASURIYA and DON ASOKA WIJEWARDENA President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, in renewed efforts to reach a compromise with the United National Front government has agreed to exercise flexibility in sharing defence powers and get the peace process moving ahead. Sources close to the President said that the decision follows the three rounds of talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and that the President was looking into the possibilities of creating a `Joint Peace Council' or something similar, with a view to get the stalled peace process back on track and moving ahead. The decision also comes in the wake of renewed calls by intellectuals, multi-religious groups, university dons, businessmen and several organisations to both leaders to reach a consensus for the sake of the country. According to highly placed sources, the President has agreed to a degree of flexibility in sharing the powers of the ministries of Defence, Interior and Media with the Prime Minister, or a minister nominated by him, to facilitate the peace process and other activities related to the peace process. Sunday Observer reliably learns that power-sharing will be extended to expedite dealings with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Norwegian facilitators, matters concerning the Ceasefire Agreement and infrastructure development in the North and East. Highly placed sources said that the President had made an irrevocable decision not to return the three ministries - Defence, Media and Interior -to the UNF government as she had taken them under the purview in accordance with the Constitution. It is also learnt that the President will not have any kind of negotiations with anyone for power-sharing, especially with regard to the Armed Forces and the Police. Meanwhile, political analysts have pointed out that the UNF government's decision to reject the President's proposal to form a Government of National Reconciliation was a major set back to resolving the power-crisis and have cautioned that the Prime Minister's demand to have the Defence Ministry under UNF purview would jeopardise the future of the peace process. This sentiment has also been frequently echoed by intellectuals, multi-religious groups, university dons and professional organisations who have urged the Prime Minister not to make the return of the Ministry of Defence an issue at this juncture. They also pointed out that the country had witnessed the UNF, PA and the JVP working together when they voted for the budgets of the ministries of defence, interior and media at the Committee stage, sending a message that they stand together when it comes to finding a solution to the ethnic problem. |
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