No Talks On Tamil Issue

The National Executive Committee did not discuss the Tamil issue owing to the absence of representatives from some political parties last week, a member of the committee said.The National Executive Committee met last Friday and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka were among those scheduled to attend the meeting but they were absent.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan was also absent and so was All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader Rishad Bathiudeen. As a result the talks on Friday, held under the leadership of Maithripala Sirisena, focused on issues other than the Tamil issue. The committee member, who wished to remain anonymous, said that while it was earlier decided that the National Executive Committee will meet every Tuesday, as of late the committee had not met frequently. The committee member said that since the National Executive Committee does not have constitutional powers and will function only for 100 days there is very little faith placed on it as a decision making body. Meanwhile, at a press conference held last week, leader of the Democratic People’s Front Mano Ganesan said there were concerns over the lack of importance given to the National Executive Committee.