Govt, TNA talks from Tuesday – Thursday

by P.Krishnaswamy

The 19th round of talks between the Government and TNA delegations scheduled for Tuesday to Thursday will mainly on ways and means of devolving police and land powers which were issues that were discussed at the last round of talks in December, highly placed Government sources told the Sunday Observer.

Scotching media speculation that the talks had deadlocked over these issues, the sources that the talks in the past were amiable and there is the possibility that headway on these issues will be made in the future talks. However the Government considered the failure of the TNA to appoint its representatives to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSA) as an impediment, the sources said.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer, head of the Government delegation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said these issues had already been discussed. He believed that they could be sorted out at future discussions. The TNA should consider appointing its representatives to the PSC for its simultaneous deliberations, he said. When queried TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran said that the Government delegation had agreed to their stand that they would not nominate their representatives to the PSC until ‘substantial consensus was reached’ with the Government on the main issues. This was agreed to and recorded in the minutes of December 3, 2011 talks, he said. Other TNA sources said the party is under pressure from many of its stalwarts who insist on a flexible stand on these matters, so as to facilitate an early resolution of the problem.