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Rajapaksa, Ranil discuss devolution

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe met on Tuesday night at the Presidential Palace to discuss issues related to implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution for devolution of powers to the provinces as a step towards resolution of the ethnic conflict.

It is the first meeting between the two leaders in months.

Since the President inducted over two dozen members of the opposition party into the government early 2007, there has been virtually no contact between Mr. Rajapaksa and Mr. Wickremesinghe.

The meeting assumes significance in the context of the recent interim report of the All Parties Representative Committee (APRC) urging the President to fully implement the 13th Amendment and appoint an interim council for the Northern Province, parts of which are under the control of the LTTE.

An official statement issued by the President’s Secretariat said Mr. Wickremesinghe “extended the UNP’s [United National Party] fullest cooperation to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution proposed by the APRC”.

It said the discussions also centred on the 17th Amendment, which relates to Constitution Council to oversee appointments to all major constitutional posts.

A statement by the UNP said that a party delegation met the President on an invitation extended to them by Mr. Rajapaksa.

Separately, the leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), V. Anandasangaree, in a statement here said he was perturbed over the decision of the APRC to postpone its meeting due to objections raised by representatives of some political parties demanding the inclusion of the Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) formed by ‘Col’. Karuna.

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