CHENNAI: India has a key role to play in creating a consensus between Sri Lanka's two major Sinhala political parties on the ethnic conflict, Sri Lankan historian Santasilan Kadirgamar said here on Saturday.

"The fundamental issue is the inability of Sinhala leaders to arrive at a consensus... India's role is to push for a consensus between the UNP [United National Party] and the SLFP [Sri Lanka Freedom Party]," he said at a seminar organised by the Observer Research Foundation.

Mr. Kadirgamar hoped that the All Party Representative Committee (APRC), which is expected to work out a consensus document next month, would be able to forge "some concrete proposals to take to the LTTE."

Welcoming the proposals offered by the committee of experts of the APRC, he objected to some of the clauses aimed at safeguarding against secession. Yet, it was essential to "reassure the Sinhalese that there will be no secession," by providing "iron clad guarantees," since the "Sinhala psyche has become paranoic."

However, he drew the line at a clause that empowers the President to take over provincial powers if there was a threat to the country. "This is a very dangerous clause. It will be resisted by the Tamils, especially the LTTE."

While the proposal made such a presidential take-over subject to judicial control, Mr. Kadirgamar was doubtful of the apolitical independence of the courts. "This does not provide an adequate safeguard to the Tamil people and goes against the spirit of devolution."

The proposal to devolve power to the provinces has provoked a controversy over what the unit of devolution will be — whether the nine provincial councils or newly created regions. The question of whether the Northern and Eastern provinces should be merged was at the heart of the debate, while terms like "federal" and "unitary" were enough to arouse passions on both sides.

Mr. Kadirgamar warned that such issues should not be allowed to hijack the process of reaching a consensus. "Let us not get stuck on the unit of devolution now... leave it for the negotiations with the LTTE."

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