The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is for the establishment of people’s assemblies and democratisation of the village administration in Sri Lanka instead of devolution of powers to provinces.
Articulating the party’s position on a variety of issues on the sidelines of its special convention in Colombo on Wednesday, Vijitha Herath, JVP spokesperson, and Bimal Ratnayaka, national organiser, told The Hindu that the assemblies should be created on the basis of ethnicity, culture and the state of economic development. “We want the existing boundaries of the provinces to be redrawn totally,” Mr. Herath said.
The spokesperson explained that the concept of devolution was not applicable to Sri Lanka, smaller in size compared to India. “Our stand is that it would lead to separatism,” he said.
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As for the reforms in the administration of rural areas, Mr. Ratnayaka said the Indian model of village panchayats would form the basis and under the existing system in Sri Lanka, village-level bodies were not as empowered as those in India.
On the issue of housing in areas hit by the civil war, the national organiser said his party was for providing Rs. five lakh more to each family. “The original amount of Rs. five lakh was worked out on the basis of cost of living five years but with this amount, no one can build a pucca house now,” Mr. Ratnayaka said. With the amount given already, beneficiaries would have built some structure. To make the structure a complete house, the additional amount was required.
To a query on investigation in alleged war crimes, the national organiser said his party was for inclusion of “independent, progressive international experts.” He added that “to get such intellectuals, you do not have to go to the West. They are available in countries such as India and Pakistan.”
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Earlier, addressing the convention, Anura Dissanayaka, party leader, emphasised that his party would strive for providing equal rights to all communities in matters concerning religion, culture and language.