President, TNA ‘discuss land, political prisoners’

COLOMBO: Fresh discussions between Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has focused on the release of political prisoners and lands in former conflict zones, a TNA legislator said.

TNA parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran said that the discussion followed an all-party meeting held recently on finding a permanent solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic issue.“Last week we had an all party conference on reconciliation.

“We  had a discussions with he president on how to take the programme forward.“

“As priorities, we discussed the release of political prisoners. It was understood that five can be released already. The Attorney General will advise on the others,” said Sumanthiran.

The MP said his party was told at the meeting that a discussion had been held with the Sri Lanka Army on the topic of releasing land.

“It was said that some recommendations will be made at the national security council meeting on January 03 and permission will be given for that,” he said, adding that the release of other lands is also expected to be taken up for discussion.

“We plan to meet again on January 05 to discuss the next course of action,” said Sumanthiran.

Asked if the ongoing talks on reconciliation has been successful, he said: “Yes the discussions were a success but nothing has come out of it yet. Only when the decisions are implemented can we comment on their success.”

In late November, the TNA accepted an invitation by President Wickremesinghe to engage constructively in sincere attempts at resolving the ethnic issue.

Speaking in parliament on November 23, the MP said the TNA was open to a federal solution.