Sri Lanka’s Northern Province to revive talks with Rajapaksa

The Tamil National Alliance, which controls the Northern Province, said they were not averse to reviving talks if no pre-conditions were attached.

In this September 22, 2013 photo, Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran sits with Tamil National Alliance leader R. Sampanthan in Jaffna. The Northern Provincial Council has agreed to revive the stalled direct talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa to find a political solution to the problems of the ethnic Tamils.

Sri Lanka’s Northern Province has unanimously agreed to revive the stalled direct talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa to find a political solution to the problems of the ethnic Tamils.

The Tamil National Alliance, which controls the Northern Province, said they were not averse to reviving talks if no pre-conditions were attached.

The direct talks between TNA leader Rajavayothi Sampanthan and Mr. Rajapaksa which began in January 2011 abruptly came to an end in February 2012 when the President convened an all party representative committee (APC) to find a solution to the demand of political autonomy to the Northern Province.

The TNA had argued that agreements reached at the bilateral talks needed to be honoured before convening the APC.

They had dubbed the APC move as a stalling tactic in order to delay the process of arriving at a genuine solution acceptable to Tamils.

On the Northern Provincial Council’s ruling and opposition members agreed that talks must resume.