Kumaratunga's new Statute, a still-born baby

Kumaratunga's new Statute, a still-born baby
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

COLOMBO, JULY 8: Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Friday ended talks on a crucial peace-plan with broad agreement on a new statute, but there were sharp differences over its implementation, political sources said.

Kumaratunga held four hours of talks with opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on a new constitution, designed to end the Tamil separatist conflict which has claimed over 60,000 lives, the sources said.

``There is broad agreement on a new Constitution that will devolve more power to the regions,'' a legislator at the talks said. ``There is still a lot of work to be done on the modalities of implementing the new plan.''

State Television described Friday's meeting as a ``historic event'' and said it demonstrated the willingness of the government and the opposition to come together at a ``time of national crisis''.

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said they concluded their four-month long talks on Friday with agreement on a new Constitution, including the contentious areas of devolution, but declined to discuss details. ``We ended the preliminary, but this is not the end of the process,'' Wickremesinghe said.

``This (process) has been a challenge to democracy and, so far, we (the opposition and the government) have been able to meet it.'' Agricultural minister D M Jayaratne said they were now set to talk with minority Tamil parties and push ahead with the peace plan, presenting it to Parliament before the term of the legislature ends on August 24.

``We will also discuss this with the Tamil Tigers,'' said the minister who was at the talks, held at Kumaratunga's Temple Trees residence.

Political sources said there was no agreement on the key transitional provisions of the Constitution that seeks to turn the country into a de facto federal state and address minority Tamil demands for greater autonomy.

Tamil Tiger guerrillas, who are fighting for an independent homeland, have already rejected the bipartisan approach to hammer out a political settlement to the conflict. Norway, acting as a facilitator to try and bring the Tamil Tigers to the negotiating table, has said it is prepared to present a political package to the Tamil Tigers for discussion.