President to chair committees

by Ranga Jayasuriya

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will, on Tuesday, chair the inaugural session of the two committees which have been set up to formulate a constitutional framework to solve the ethnic conflict.

The two committees - Parliamentary Representative Committee and the Panel of Experts- were set up to identify a framework for political and constitutional solutions to the National Question.

"One cannot wait till the stalemate in the military issues and in the official track on negotiations are resolved.

So the government has decided to go ahead with political discussions," said Kethish Loganathan, the Deputy Head of the Peace Secretariat.

The Parliamentary Representative Committee consists of a representative from each political party in Parliament and attending the All Party Conference (APC). However, the Main Opposition, the United National Party has not yet nominated its representative to the Parliamentary Representative Committee. The Panel of Experts whose role is to advise the Parliamentary Representative Committee, was appointed by the President last week.

Loganathan said the twelve-member Panel of Experts will be expanded to ensure a multi-party, multi-ethnic composition.

The President in his address to the inaugural session of the two committees is expected to suggest a framework, but he would not insist on the two committees to fit in to his framework, said the Deputy Chief of the Peace Secretariat.