Reconciliation talks between Tamil parties, President postponed indefinitely

Thursday, 12 January 2023 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The talks between several Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka with President Ranil Wickremesinghe have been postponed indefinitely. The group including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) were set to engage in a marathon round of talks with Wickremesinghe commencing yesterday and continuing till 13 January. Instead, the parties have submitted three demands to President Wickremesinghe calling on him to provide solutions to these within a week’s time. They are demanding the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the release of all lands belonging to Tamils in the North and East occupied by the military or other Government agencies and the release of all Tamil political prisoners.

However, the talks have now been indefinitely postponed as the President is yet to respond to these demands. According to TNA party insiders, the President has assured them he will provide a response within one week and therefore the meeting was postponed till that time.

The parties recently expressed their dismay at the lack of progress following the talks with Wickremesinghe who had made an overture to the parties in November last year to initiate talks on reconciliation and the National Question in Sri Lanka.