At
a meeting held today at Temple Trees, President Rajapaksa wanted his
close political advisors to consider dissolving the Eastern Provincial
Council, the Colombo Telegraph learns.
At a closed door meeting,
the President has expressed his displeasure over a possible resolution
of the Eastern Provincial Council opposing the Government’s move to
dilute the 13th Amendment. It was pointed out that the Government in
that event could get only 13 votes (i.e. Athaulla group-3, Badurdeen
group-3 and SLFP-3), while those who support the 13th Amendment could
get 24 votes (TNA-11, Muslim Congress-7, UNP 4 and Pilliyan-2).
Last week, at a meeting held at Main
Street, Kalmunai, MinisterHakeem expressed disappointment over the
Government’s move and stated that “the Government has appointed a
Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) without the SLMC, which is the
strongest and most represented Muslim party and as such, any decision
taken by such a PSC will be thrown to the dustbin”.
The President has indicated that
criticism is mounting in the East against the move to amend the 13th
Amendment and before the Eastern Provincial Council passes a resolution,
the Council should be dissolved and the Government must take over the
administration of the Province.
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