Opposition parties ask Govt. to act against NPC resolution calling for north-east merger

Opposition parties yesterday said the government must act on a bill passed by the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) - controlled Northern Provincial Council (NPC) calling for a merger of the North and East into one Tamil speaking federal unit.

Leader of the National Freedom Front, MP Wimal Weerawansa stressed that the government must act against the bill presented by the Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran on Friday and passed by a majority vote.

The resolution seeking a federal solution to the issue of political independence for the minority Tamil community calls for the government to include in the new constitution a merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces into one ruling system and establishing it under a federal system.

MP Weerawansa said that a similar move was made by the Northern PC when Varadaraja Perumal was the Chief Minister and the then government acted against the move using constitutional powers. However, today’s government leaders are extremely silent when a similar bill was passed by the Council, he noted.

The NFF leader charged that the NPC is using its democratic powers to further the separatist move and called on the government to act using its constitutional powers.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) also commenting on the NPC bill during a media briefing today said such action by the Provincial Council leads to racism in the Tamil and Sinhala communities in the country.

“Racism will resurface as a result of this action, both Tamil and Sinhala extremist groups will use this resolution to their advantage and ignite racism. It does not encourage reconciliation, but it stands to encourage separatism and disharmony,” JVP parliamentarian Vijitha Herath said.

MP Herath said the merger of Northern and Eastern Provinces should not happen and will never happen.

The NPC resolution seeking a federal solution to the issue of political independence for the minority Tamil community calls for the government to include in the new constitution a merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces into one ruling system and establishing it under a federal system.

Northern PC passes bill to merge North and East into a federal unit

Jaffna: Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) - controlled Northern Provincial Council (NPC) has passed a bill on Friday calling for Sri Lanka’s new constitution to allow merging the North and East into one federal, Tamil speaking unit.

Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran presented the resolution to the NPC on Friday and it was passed by a majority vote.

The resolution seeking a federal solution to the issue of political independence for the minority Tamil community,  calls for the government to include in the new constitution a merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces into one ruling system and for establishing it under a federal system.

Merging the North and East has been a long-pending demand of the TNA and the party has formulated the bill based on the views and suggestions of the people in all districts of the Northern Province.