Sri Lankan minister rejects Tamil homeland

Sri Lankan minister rejects Tamil homeland

By Nadeem Ansari

CANBERRA — The Sri Lankan minister for housing and construction, Inika Gunawardena, told a Friends of Peace in Sri Lanka meeting here on September 29 that a united Sri Lanka was the only way to bring peace.

Some 30 people attended the meeting, the first that a Sri Lankan minister has agreed to address in Australia.

Gunawardena is a member of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, which is in the ruling coalition, the People's Alliance (PA). Gunawardena has been involved in human rights struggles in Sri Lanka's south since the 1980s. He was detained on charges of conspiracy against the government in 1985.

Gunawardena made it clear that the government will enter a dialogue only with those who support a united Sri Lanka, thereby excluding talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are fighting for Tamil self-determination and a separate homeland.

He claimed that the LTTE abandoned the peace talks begun by the PA when it took office in 1994, leaving the government "no choice" but to launch a military offensive.

According to Gunawardena, the PA recognises the "ethnic problem" in its manifesto and is prepared to amend the constitution to solve the problem. He said that the opposition United National Party (UNP) does not recognise the ethnic issue and will not agree to a political solution.

The new constitution the PA proposes will allow a system "very close to a federation", he said, and will include a devolution of powers.

The government has been negotiating with the UNP, which has taken more than a year to respond. Gunawardena claimed the UNP is trying to delay the process until after the next election.

In order to get a two-thirds majority for amendments to the constitution, the government needs 20 more votes in parliament than it currently controls.

From GLW issue 336