Home NewsThe Island 3Friday 30th April, 2010

BY ZACKI JABAR AND

KATIE BURKE

The Colombo District UNPLawyers Association said yes-terday that the time was notright to change the UNP lead-ership.

Assistant Secretary of theCDUNPLA NissankaNanayakkara told a news con-ference in Colombo that theydid not see a need for a changeat the top right now. But inany event it was a matter to beresolved by the UNP WorkingCommittee.

“The UNP has capable peo-ple among both the seniorsand juniors who can serve the

party well. But, final-ly it is the WorkingCommittee that canbring about anychange.”

He said that theUNP leader RanilWickremesinghe wasscheduled to meet theparty’s Colombolawyers this week.

Secretary of the CDUN-PLA Ajith Pathirana said thatthe issue before the UNP wasnot about giving prominenceto Colombo members overtheir rural counterparts.Therestucturing process that hasbeen planned,was aimed at

strengthening theparty throughout thecountry. However,whatever programmethat is implemented,has to have the sanc-tion of the WorkingCommittee.

He accused a sec-tion of the UNPNational Lawyers

Association of holding mediabriefings at various hotels andmaking baseless allegations,in violation of the party con-stitution.

“They should meet theUNP leaders and submit theirviews and proposals, without

summoning illegal meetings athotels and clubs. Theiractions, are detrimental to theimage of the party and is alsounconstitutional.”

Pathirana said that if theUNPNLA submits its propos-als through the proper chan-nels, the UNP WorkingCommittee, which was due tomeet in the first week of May,could discuss it.

The UNPNLA shouldobtain the sanction of its gen-eral membership before mak-ing public statements. Instead,a a few disgruntled memberswere acting in an ad hoc man-ner, he said.

Canada’s Tamilsto vote ontransnationalgovt.

Assembly ineffective without world recognition,

say opponents

Toronto: Tamils in Canada go tothe polls on Sunday (May 2) to electmembers for the first transnationalgovernment, which will represent themillion-strong Tamils living outsideSri Lanka.

Polls will also be held in theUnited Kingdom, France, Switzerlandand Germany to elect an assembly of135 members.

“After the war last year, theTamils are now trying to use thedemocratic space to bring about con-sensus among Tamils,” said ChandraKanthan, a human rights advocate.

“The purpose of the governmentis to instill hope in a people that hasbecome disenfranchised.”

Canada is expected to have thegreatest presence in the governmentwith 25 elected members, 15 from theGreater Toronto Area.

The elections will be overseen byan independent committee made upof non-Tamil school board trusteesfrom around the city.

Kanthan said the assembly is notseeking legitimacy or acceptancefrom world governments. Its initialgoal is “to have a common consensuson where the Tamil communityshould move from here at a timewhen there is no political space forthem to express their opinion intheir homeland”.

The ultimate goal is the establish-ment of an independent Tamil state,he said. “Eventually, we will worktoward recognition, but not initially.”

But not everyone likes the idea.Chris Sandrasagra, secretary of theToronto-based Canadian ReliefOrganization for Peace in Sri Lanka,said the transnational government isfocused on the formation of a sepa-rate country, when many Tamilswant a united Sri Lanka.

He also believes that withoutinternational recognition, such agovernment will be futile.

“The Canadian government is notgoing to accept an exile government,”said Sandrasagra, adding manyTamils in the city plan to boycott theelection.

The vote takes place from 9.00a.m. to 9.00 p.m.

An electronic voting system willbe used to elect the members.

There will also be a few physicalvoting places in areas in the US withhigh Tamil populations.(Thestar.com)

The SriLanka FreedomParty breakaway group (theMangala Wing)has decided totake a finaldecision onwhether to jointhe United National Partyor not next week.

Sources said that UNPleader RanilWickremesinghe had invit-ed the SLFP (MangalaWing) to join his party butthe group’s leader hadsaid his group’s CentralCommittee meet nextweek and take a decisionon whether to accept theinvitation or not.

Sources said that if theSLFP (Mangala wing) joinsthe UNP, its leaderMangala Samaraweerawould be offered a toppost in the party.

Earlier, although a seatwas offered through thenational list to the Mangalagroup by the UNP thatpledge was differed afterthe general elections till avacancy occurred in thefuture.

Mangala wing tojoin UNP?

Mangala

DeputyMediaMinisterMervyn Silvaconspicuous-ly doing atime check at theInformationDepartmentprior to toassumingoffice. Whatdo the plan-ets and starsportend. MrsSilva lookson. Photo -ChandrasiriWeerasinghe.

This is not the time tochange UNP leadership

– Colombo LawyersLet Working Committee decide on reforms

BY NORMANPALIHAWADANA

Deputy Media MinisterMervyn Silva yesterday invitedrepresentative of Sirasa toshare a piece of cake with himafter he assumed duties at theInformation Department.

A smiling Silva said that hewas ready for a new beginningand didn’t see any trouble in

working with the media.During Silva’s tenure as theLabour Minister, he clashedwith Sirara media on severaloccasions and once triggered anunprecedented dispute with asection of Rupavahini employ-ees.

He called an end to his dis-pute with a section of themedia, while assuring his sup-

port to improve working condi-tions of journalists.

Silva said that the mediashould not sling mud at him ashe had been elected by people ofGampaha with an overwhelm-ing majority. He assured themedia that if anyone couldprove the various allegationspertaining to his conduct, hewould quit the media portfolio.

Mervyn dons sheep’s garb

BY DON ASOKA

WIJEWARDENA

The ChiefIncumbent ofDhramaaya-thanayaVen. Ella Gunawansasaid that MEP leaderDinesh Gunawardenashould have been givena better and moreresponsible port-folio becausein terms ofseniority hehad all the cre-dentials to be asenior politi-cian.

He wasspeaking at a function, held at theWater Supply and Drainage BoardMinistry yesterday, to markGunawardena’s assuming duties asthe new Minister.

He said that MinisterGunawardena had been serving invarious Ministries and had been rec-ognized as responsible and dedicatedMinister. Although people had expect-ed a more responsible portfolio forhim, his talents had been overlooked.People had placed trust and confi-dence in him and he would expectedto solve a number of water-relatedproblems in the country.

Minister Dinesh Gunawardenasaid that he would establish a WaterPreservation Project inAnuradhapura and would take actionto provide safe drinking water to peo-ple.

He said that his Ministry hadshouldered a heavy responsibility topreserve and provide water for agri-cultural and drinking purposes.Water had become the essence of lifeof people and due to environmentaldamages and water resources pollu-tion by factory effluents, waterresources had been on the verge ofdepletion.

Minister Gunawardena said that ifpeople had opportunities to use safewater for drinking purposes, manywater-borne diseases could have beenprevented. He would devise a schemeto identify rich areas of waterresources and would request peopleengaged in deforestation not to cutdown plants and trees. The ancestorshad been preserving trees and plants,but people had taken to destroy florafor commercial purposes, he said.

Dinesh deserved better – Gunawansa thera

Dinesh

The 125th anniversary of the introduction of the Buddhist flag was celebrated on theAdhi Vesak Poya Day. Religious ceremonies were conducted in temples throughoutthe island on Wednesday (28) to mark the historic event. A large number of devoteesattended a special religious ceremony at the historic Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya.

(Photo: Jude Denzil Pathiraja)

THIMPHU: In a meeting betweenPrime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani andSri Lankan President MahindaRajapakse on Wednesday, it was decidedthat bilateral relations in all fields, espe-cially in defence, trade and commerceshould be promoted, according to on linereport of Daily Times

During the meeting, which was alsoattended by Foreign Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi, both the leadersemphasised the need to strengthen theSAARC organisation for the bettermentof the region.

Gilani said Pakistan greatly valuedits traditionally close and cordial rela-tionship with Sri Lanka, adding thatboth the countries had always stood byeach other in difficult times.

He said both the countries sharedcommonality of views on numerousissues of mutual interest.

He said, “We should closely coordi-nate our positions on regional and inter-national forums.”

He said Pakistan was happy to notethat the Sri Lankan government hadbeen able to defeat terrorism, addingthat both the countries had been cooper-ating to defeat this menace.

Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistanhad always supported the unity, territo-rial integrity and sovereignty of SriLanka.

He said despite its own economic dif-ficulties, Pakistan would continue tocontribute towards the socio-economicdevelopment of Sri Lanka.

He said it is gratifying to note thatthe volume of trade between the twocountries had registered significantincrease in the last four years after thesigning of the Free Trade Agreement.“We should nonetheless keep striving,jointly, to further expand our commer-cial ties,” he said.

Services sector should be included inthe FTA for promoting investment andtrade facilitation between the two coun-tries. The negotiations towards that end

need to be fast-tracked, he added.

The prime minister emphasised theneed to reactivate the Joint EconomicCommission (JEC) to facilitate bilateraleconomic cooperation and monitor itsprogress as its last meeting was heldway back in 2005.

Pakistan also invited a team of sen-

ior Sri Lankan officials to visitIslamabad to prepare the agenda of thenext JEC meeting.

He said Pakistan would continue toassist Sri Lanka in military trainingand to fulfil its defence needs andrequirements.

Pakistan also offered overhaulingfacilities for equipments of aircrafts ofthe Sri Lankan Air Force.

Joint strategy: Prime MinisterGilani also met Maldives’ PresidentMohamed Nasheed and congratulatedhim on his election as well as therestoration of constitutional democracyin the country.

Gilani called for a joint strategy toface the common challenges of energyshortage, water scarcity and manage-ment, environment as well as securityissues facing the South Asian countries.

He expressed the hope that under thenew leadership his country would makeconcerted efforts to reinvigorate bilater-al ties particularly in the trade, econom-ic, defence and social sectors.

He said Pakistan had identified proj-ects worth Rs 9.8 million for Maldivesand had offered 30 training slots for itsarmed and security persons during 2009-2010.

The prime minister urged theMaldivian government to expedite sign-ing of bilateral counterterrorism agree-ment pending since last year. He alsourged early signing of MoU on narcoticcontrol. He said it would pave the wayfor promoting bilateral relationsbetween the two countries.

He also called for early convening ofJoint Economic Commission meetingfor promoting trade and economic ties.

Gilani apprised the president ofMaldives about the SAARC InteriorMinisters’ meeting in Islamabad nextmonth which will provide an opportuni-ty to SAARC member states collectivelyand Pakistan and Maldives bilaterally tostrengthen the cooperation in intelli-gence sharing and other related areas.

The president t of Maldives whilereciprocating the feelings expressed byGilani, lauded the dominant role politicswas playing in addressing the issues inPakistan and for sincerely confrontingthe challenges of security.

Condolence: Separately, PrimeMinister Gilani condoled with NepaleseForeign Minister Sujata Koirala on thedeath of her father, former PrimeMinister GP Koirala.

Gilani who visited Nepal on Mondaybefore coming to Bhutan, met the for-eign minister to offer his condolences toher.

Sujata appreciated Gilani’s efforts insmooth passage of the 18th Amendmentby parliament.

The foreign minister of Nepalpraised Prime Minister Gilani’s effortsin smooth passage of the 18thAmendment through Pakistan parlia-ment.

Gilani mahinda

Pakistan, Sri Lanka agree topromote defence, trade relations* Gilani calls for joint SAARC strategyto counter common challenges

* Condoles death of Nepalese FM’sfather

Defence SecretaryGotabhaya Rajapaksa yes-terday toured the Jaffnapeninsula, where he metsenior officers in charge ofsecurity and discussedways and means ofimproving the situation inthe peninsula. He wasaccompanied by theActing Chief of DefenceStaff and Army and NavyChiefs. Thursday’s visitwas the first to Jaffna bythe Defence Secretary thisyear.

Major GeneralMahinda Hathurusinghe,Commander, Security

Forces, Jaffnabriefed the vis-iting delega-tion on thesecurity net-work.Discussionscentered onpost-war con-cerns, resettle-ment, de-min-ing work, civiladministra-tion, rehabili-tation of former LTTEcombatants, promotion ofcivil-military relations.

The Defence Secretaryopened the rehabilitated

dockyard atKankesanthuraiharbour, whichhad for overtwenty-five yearsremained aban-doned due toLTTE terrorism.Opening of thisdockyard wouldenable the porthereafter tocarry out allrepairs to the

vessels directly withouttowing them toTrincomalee, militarysources said.

Gota on inspection tour in Jaffna