COLOMBO: Sinhalese hardliners yesterday urged Sri Lanka’s president to reduce powers of a regional council won by Tamils in an election hailed internationally as a step towards ethnic reconciliation after decades of war.
The National Heritage Party (JHU) said the first semi-autonomous body won by the minority Tamil National Alliance (TNA) could lead to the division of the island on ethnic lines.
The TNA won 30 out of 38 seats in polls for a provincial council in Jaffna established 26 years ago, but ruled directly by the president until elections on Saturday in the area scarred by ethnic strife.
“The real war has just begun,” said Udaya Gammanpila, a leader of the JHU which is a coalition partner of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government. “The TNA will revive the separatists’ campaign through the council.”
In theory, the country’s nine provincial councils have powers over police and land. Until now, none has exercised these powers but the TNA is pressing a claim to have police and land under its control.
“We are entering a new phase of the war. It is not a war that will be fought with guns and bombs,” Gammanpila said. He said the JHU had told the government it was not too late to trim the powers of the council and prevent the start of a new political conflict that could be internationalised.
However, after the results were announced on Sunday, TNA’s chief minister-elect C V Wigneswaran said in Jaffna that he was willing to work with Colombo. He said there was mistrust between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils, but he had “great faith in humanity” to resolve differences.
“There is a fear of separation, but all we are asking for is a federal state within the boundaries of Sri Lanka.” AFP
