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The
Mahanyaka Theras of the three Nikayas of the Buddhist clergy refused to
attend the meeting with President Kumaratunga at Temple trees today to
hold talks regarding their growing opposition against peace moves with the
LTTE. In recent
weeks, Buddhist clergy made protests against proposed reforms and to any
possible dialogue with the LTTE. They also opposed against Norwegian
mediation in the peace process. Amidst
this growing pressure from Buddhist clergy and Sinhala groups, President
Kumaratunga called for a meeting with the Mahanayakas today, after
informing the prelates that due to security reasons she was unable to meet
them at their temples. The
refusal came on three grounds including the eleventh hour delivery of the
invitation. Sources
close to the prelates revealed that the two day notice given by the
President had not been enough. The
Mahanayakas also state that the invitation had not specified what the
constitutional proposals are. "There
are four sets of constitutional proposals. They were made in 1995, August
1996 and October 1997. Recently amendments were made to the 1997
Government Draft after the President met Tamil political parties.
Therefore, they are not sure which proposal Mrs. Kumaratunga is referring
to," sources said. The
Mahanayakas has also informed the President that they should have time,
after studying the relevant proposal, to study the comment on the legal
implications. The
Mahanayaka Theras are to meet later this week and decide on future course
of action regarding their stance on constitutional reforms and foreign
mediation. They have
also informed the President that it would be convenient for them of she
also allows participation of their legal experts. The
decisions of the prelates comes after a giant protest against foreign
mediation on Thursday organised by four Sinhala organisations. The
organisations were the Jathika Sangha Sabha, the National Joint Committee,
the National Movement Against Terrorism and the Sinhala Veera Vidhana.
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