Friday, October 01, 2004

NAC smacks of dilatory tactics— GL by Piyasena Dissanayake

UNP spokesman Prof. G.L.Peiris yesterday said that the UNP would boycott the National Advisory Council convened by President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

He said that President was delaying the resumption of peace talks, and the NAC was one of doing so.

"It is high time President and the UPFA came out and make known whether they would recommence talks based on the LTTE's ISGA proposals or not," Prof. Peiris told a press conference held yesterday at the Opposition Leader's Office.

He said that inability of the coalition partners of the Government to reach a common stand point over the issue was the only hindrance to resume talks with the LTTE.

There was no point in convening an advisory council without reaching a consensus among the main partners of the government, said Prof. Peiris.

He said the UNP would extend its support to the government's attempt to find a solution to the North East crisis if it was willing to recommence the peace process based on Tokyo and Oslo agreements.

He said President Kumaratunga would be in office only for a few more months and as such an advisory committee that met only once a month served no purpose, Prof. Peiris said.