APRC final report ready in three months - Prof. Vitarana

UNP response encouraging

By L.S.A. Wedaarachchi

[email protected]

The chairman of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) Prof. Tissa Vitarana is hopeful of submitting the final report of the APRC within three months and is also confident of the opposition UNP returning to the APRC.

"Ninety per cent of the final report has been prepared and weekly meetings are being held to put the final touches, said Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Chairman, APRC and Minister of Science and Technology.

"If the proceedings of the APRC continue without any interruptions there will be a new constitution based on the final report of the APRC, he said. The development of political unity which we experienced during the past few weeks specially the historic meeting between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe brings the best hopes for the future, he said. The LSSP also solved the internal issues on APRC matters, he said.

Minister of Constitutional Affairs and National Integration D.E.W. Gunasekera said that the APRC was set up to seek a solution more broadbased than the 13th Amendment.

"We need a solution for the whole problem. There is no rift in the Communist Party over the 13th Amendment, or APRC outcome, he said.