JVP wants "probation" government

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 August 2001, 16:02 GMT]
The Marxist-Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Wednesday called for what they described as a "probationary" government. A party spokesman said that the JVP has submitted a proposal to the Sri Lankan government for the purpose. "The government should have cancelled the referendum instead of postponing it. If the parliament is reconvened it would be possible to consider the governmentÌs proposal for setting up of a constitution planning council," Mr. Wimal Weerawanse, Propaganda Secretary of the JVP, said.

"The JVP has already submitted a set of proposals to the government to solve the present crisis. The proposals included the establishment of a probationary government. If this is accepted the postponed referendum should be cancelled and the parliament should be reconvened. My party will not make use of the present crisis to bring about a situation in which there would be no government in the country," said Mr. Weerawanse.

"Separatists should not be given any room to the to exploit this political crisis to their advantage," he said.

Sinhala nationalists are pushing for pushing for a national government, saying that the referendum has caused disunity among the Sinhalese. It should be overcome to prevent the Tigers from reaping the advantage, they say.

The JVP is keen to show that its role in the crisis will not be detrimental to Sinhala interests. The party is opposed to granting any regional autonomy to the Tamil people and argues that communism is the only panacea to all the island's ills.