Talks in run-up to polls :

SLMC set to contest Eastern PC with UPFA

by P. Krishnaswamy

In a desperate attempt to secure political leverage in the run-up to the Eastern Provincial Council polls, UPFA ally, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) led by Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem is now holding talks with the Government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

The party has already held several rounds of talks with the TNA and is in the process of drafting an MoU to be presented to the Government at discussions next week.

Party sources told the Sunday Observer that it was most likely that the SLMC will contest along with the Government.

Their MoU will incorporate their recommendations on the full implementation of the 13th Amendment, including police and land powers and an independent unit of devolution to the Muslim community of the North and the the East, the sources said.

The SLMC has considerable representation in the Provincial Council and all other local government bodies in the province, with some of them under its administration.

The TNA which propagates the North-East re-merger and received SLMC support has called upon the SLMC openly, to contest the polls either independently or with them.