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SLFP, UNP to work together

B. Muralidhar Reddy

National consensus on all issues including ethnic strife

PHOTO: Sriyantha Walpola

HISTORIC PACT: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa (left), and leader of the United National Party Ranil Wickramesinghe in Colombo on Thursday.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and United National Party under the leadership of the former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Thursday agreed to pursue a "national consensus" on all issues confronting the country.

Both sides decided to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on six points. The two sides agreed to work on a "federal" solution to the ethnic issue.

Positive development

Terming the development as "very positive and unprecedented", political watchers were cautious in their optimism and said they would like the events to play out fully given the baggage of bad vibes between the two parties.

The extraordinary distance the two rival parties have travelled could be gauged from the fact that Mr. Rajapaksa invited the UNP to join the Cabinet to "effectively carry out the agreed programme of work." A statement by the President's Secretariat said here that signing of the MoU was to be "expedited." The expectations were that the MoU would be signed before October 15. Mr. Wickremesinghe told media the signing ceremony could be delayed by a few more days pending finalisation of details.

The Leader of the Opposition said the UNP working committee would discuss the pros and cons of Mr. Rajapaksa's offer on Cabinet on Monday. The former Prime Minister said his party had taken up the offer to facilitatie a "political solution" to the ethnic issue. "We are committed to pursuit of peace while safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country. Our message is peace is imperative."

He said he asked the President about the status of the proposed talks with the LTTE and was that the Government was going ahead with the dialogue on October 28 and 29.

A statement from Mr. Rajapaksa's office said the President emphasised the importance of each party safeguarding its individuality while working together on a common programme.

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