The Indian government has sought an urgent meeting with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on the 13th Amendment to the constitution, the Uthayan newspaper owned by TNA MP E. Sarawanabavan reported today.
Accordingly a TNA delegation led by TNA leader R. Sampanthan will head to New Delhi next week to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and others in the government.
The meeting comes on the backdrop of moves by the government to make changes to the 13th Amendment by removing some clauses including the land and police powers.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa had yesterday told the coalition partners of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) that they can vote as they wish in parliament on the proposed changes to the 13th Amendment to the constitution.
The President expressed this view when he met separately with the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and the EPDP, Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayaka told the Colombo Gazette yesterday.
Samaranayaka said that a JHU delegation led by Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka and an EPDP delegation led by Minister Douglas Devananda had separate meetings with the President.
“The President told the two delegations that the can freely express their views and vote as they wish on the proposed changes as coalition partners of the government,” Samaranayaka said.
http://colombogazette.com/2013/06/11/india-seeks-urgent-meeting-with-tna/
The JHU has been pushing for the 13th Amendment to be abolished or changes to be included before the scheduled northern provincial council polls in September. (Colombo Gazette)