The combined Socialist Alliance (SA) yesterday strongly supported the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) as a means of finding a lasting solution to the North-East conflict and said the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) report could be used as a launching pad to start talks.

Lanka Sama Samasamaja Party leader and Senior Minister Tissa Vitharana told a media conference that no country could achieve sustainable development without peace and harmony among the people.

“The Tamil people must be convinced that they are part and parcel of good governance,” the minister said.

He said the SA expected to talk to the constituent parties of the government and the opposition about the PSC and urged them to take part in the PSC.

“The United National Party (UNP) has a big role to play in this exercise. All parties must take part in the PSC discussions and they can leave if they feel it is a futile endeavour,” he added.

He said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has received a mandate from the Tamil-speaking people and should participate in PSC discussions with an open mind now that it was not a proxy of the LTTE.

Communist Party General Secretary and Senior Minister D. E. W. Gunasekara said President Mahinda Rajapaksa had gone on record saying he would accept whatever recommendations suggested by the PSC and as such the devolving of police and land powers would not be a stumbling block to the PSC.

Power devolution must resolve the problems not only of the Tamils but of the Sinhalese and other minorities, the Minister added.

“There may be many road blocks, barricades and potholes on the path to find a durable solution to our problems. Local and international detractors exploiting the geo political situation will activate geo political strategies to destabilise Sri Lanka in its quest to find a solution to its most vital problem. Whatever the drawbacks what is most important is that Sri Lanka cannot ignore India at any stage. The Indian factor is the key to any solution we envisage. Secondly, we also cannot forget the influence of Tamil Nadu. Never forget that there are 65 million Tamils in India and they are concerned about the fate of Sri Lanka Tamils as they are bound by language, culture and religion with each other,” the minister said.

New Left Front Leader and Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkaera said all political parties in parliament must adopt a give and take policy and compromise to bring the most suitable and pragmatic proposals to resolve the ethnic issue.