Committee has ignored our constitutional proposals - GTF
Sunday, October 30, 2016
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) says that its proposals sent to the Public Representations Committee (PRC) on Constitutional Reforms had been ignored, while submissions from unknown diaspora groups had been taken into consideration.
The GTF’s Spokesperson Suren Surendiran told the "Sunday Island" yesterday that the GTF which was established in 2009 by a number of grassroots Tamil groups following the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka was the largest Tamil diaspora organization with members drawn from across five continents.
The GTF, he said, was committed to a non violent agenda and seeks a lasting peace in Sri Lanka based on justice, reconciliation and a negotiated political settlement, but its proposals on constitutional reform sent within the deadline to the PRC headed by Lal Wijeynayake had not been included in its report nor was there acknowledgement of receipt.
"Our proposals are extremely moderate and practical. But, it is the submissions of various unknown diaspora groups that have been given precedence", Surendiran noted.
The GTF’s proposals under the sub heads Basic Principles Underlying a new Constitution, Power Sharing and Territorial Decentralisation inter alia calls for power sharing on the basis of self-rule and shared-rule within an undivided Sri Lanka.
The Island