Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran presenting a Resolution on the Constitutional Reforms to the NPC has proposed the set up of two States in the country, one by merging the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the other by merging the seven other Provinces.
The Resolution which was presented to the Council was taken up for debate yesterday presided by its Chairman C.V. K.Sivagnanam. The Chief Minister further proposes to declare Muslim majority districts within the Eastern Province as an autonomous region, and a similar autonomous region for Estate Community.
The Resolution is to be handed over to Opposition Leader and TNA Leader R. Sampanthan. Wigeswaran observed no community should feel inferior to another community despite whether they belong to the majority or minority. He stated the need of a federal system to ensure proper power devolution in the country in a manner that everybody gets equal rights.
The resolution also proposes a separate State Parliament for the North and the East. The legislation made by the central government should be directed to State Parliament and autonomous regions before implementation.
As of the Resolution both Sinhala and Tamil should be made official languages while English is used as a link language. All the administrative documents should be in Tamil in the North and East, but their Sinhala and English translations should be available, and vise versa in Sinhala majority areas. The National Anthem should allowed to be sung in both Sinhala and Tamil as appropriate to the gathering present.
The Resolution also proposes that Police powers must be given to State Governments. It states the Prevention of Terrorism Act must be withdrawn completely. It also proposes that the Constitutional Assembly should seriously think on providing a durable solution to the national question. Wigneswaran suggests that there must be a dialogue between Sinhala leaders and Tamil leaders on the rights of Tamil people to live in their traditional areas.
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