TNA to name members for PSC after reaching an agreement with Govt.

Sri Lanka’s major Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), says it would name representatives to the proposed parliamentary select committee (PSC) to find a political solution to the ethnic issue only after reaching an agreement with the government.

TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran told ColomboPage that the party would first reach an agreement on the solution with the Government during the bilateral discussions.

He said the TNA would put forward names of party members to the PSC after reaching a consensus on a solution, which in turn would be presented to the PSC for further discussion.

The Government and the TNA has so far held two rounds of talks this month on Thursday (1) and Saturday (3) and is scheduled to meet on Tuesday (6), Wednesday (14) and Thursday (15).

According to Sumanthiran, names of TNA members for the PSC would be delayed until the party reaches a consensus with the Government and the names would be given no sooner an agreement is reached.

Meanwhile, the TNA leadership is expected to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss the matter.

The PSC received Parliamentary approval last month and the Leader of the House requested the Chief Opposition Whip to hand over the list of names of the opposition members to be appointed to the Committee. However, the Constitution of the PSC has been delayed due to the delay on the part of the TNA to hand over names of its representatives.

The PSC, which will have quasi-judicial powers, is to comprise 19 governing party members and 12 opposition members. The PSC is expected to work a solution within the timeframe with the input from all political parties while the Government continues to hold discussions with the TNA.

The Government proposed the formation of the PSC stating that a unique opportunity has arisen for the people to unite and work together as one nation towards the economic, social and political development of the nation and its citizens.