All-party conference on reconciliation gets underway

All-party conference on reconciliation commenced a short while ago at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of the President, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and the party leaders representing the parliament are present at the conference, according to the PMD.

Citing sources, Indian media reported earlier that representatives of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the Tamil Progressive Front, the Tamil National People’s Front and the Tamil National People’s Alliance are also joining this meeting to discuss peaceful resolutions to the long-standing issues of the Tamil community.

According to Press Trust of India (PTI), individual representatives of these Tamil political parties have met with President Wickremesinghe to facilitate this meeting.

Addressing the parliament last month, the President invited all Tamil political parties for a discussion to look into the issues faced by the Tamil community and to resolve them amicably, while stressing that Sri Lanka does not need external interference in its internal affairs.