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A
tentative agreement on the appointment of governors reached between the
People's Alliance government and the United National Party at the third round of talks on Constitutional
Reforms held yesterday at Temple Trees has draw sharp criticism from Tamil
political parties. The
delegations to the talks discussed in detail the provisions of the Government's 1997
draft constitution proposals in relation to the mode of appointment of
Governors of Regions. According
to a joint communiqué issued by the two parties, agreement was reached on
the procedures to be followed by the Head
of State in achieving a balance between giving due importance to the
wishes of the Regions and the overall responsibility of the Central
Executive in making the appointment of governors with full answerability
in parliament. However, several Tamil political party leaders have expressed concern over the agreement regarding the appointment of the Governor. Tamil representatives claim that the appointment of a region's Governor by the President solely on the advice of its chief minister is deemed necessary to prevent the central government from unduly intervening in the affairs of that region through the Governor. They say that the words "achieving a balance" which appear in the communiqué signal the government's intention to "water down" the extent of the proposed devolution, paving the way for potential interference by the central executive in regional matters. Official
sources said however that the procedure recommended by the two delegations would be discussed by the
PA with representatives of the minority parties before finalisation. At
yesterday's round of talks M.H. Mohamed was included in the UNP delegation,
following a request made to the UNP leadership by Muslim representatives. The PA
delegation led by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga included
Ministers Dharmasiri Senanayake, D.M. Jayaratne, G.L. Peiris, Indika
Gunawardane, Batty Weerakoon and M.H.M. Ashraff. The UNP
team was led by opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe included Karu
Jayasuriya, Gamini Athukorale, K.N. Choksy, Ronnie De Mel, M.H.M. Mohammed
and Mahinda Samatrasinghe. Mr. K.
Balapatabendi, Secretary to the President and Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne
were also present at this meeting. At the
last meeting held on March 16, a joint committee comprising G.L. Peiris,
M.H.M. Ashraff and K.N. Choksy was appointed to discuss a range of issues
including the appointment of governors, fundamental rights and the
independence of the judiciary. The next
meeting was scheduled for next week at Temple Trees.
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