Deputy Minister Sivalingam seeks more minority views on reforms

The proposals of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Electoral Reforms fall short of the aspirations of the minorities, particularly the up-country plantation community, said Deputy Minister of Nation Building and Estate Infrastructure Development, Muthu Sivalingam MP, in a media statement.

Since independence, electoral reforms have been the subject of much concern to the minorities who have suffered setbacks and injustices in the political arena, he pointed out said. The proposals do not reflect any reasonable electoral arrangement for their equitable representation, in spite of the committee's protracted deliberations and meetings with representatives of the minorities who had put forward their views.

The proposal for reform "also pose the threat of invariably paving the way for their under-representation after substantially slicing down their current level of representation in the parliament", the Deputy Minister said.

"Through the relentless efforts and political struggles of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), the decades long stateless problem of the plantation community was resolved by successive governments. The community now has twelve MPs, with considerable representation in the PCS and other local government bodies.

The proposals of the PSC, if implemented, would deprive the plantation people of their undeniable right to elect a number of representatives, commensurate with their ethnic proportion."