G.L Pieris to hold meeting with Tamil groups

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 August 1998, 18:52 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government's Minister for Constitutional Affairs Prof. G.L Pieris will hold a meeting with all the non-LTTE groups on September 10 to discuss the issues which are delaying the implementation of PA's devolution package, said sources close to the Minister today.

The non-LTTE Tamil groups in Colombo said that they were not aware of the details of this discussion and expressed reservations about any positive outcome from the proposed meeting with the minister.

They said that the developing political situation in the southern parts of the island, where the UNP is agitating against the postponement of the provincial council elections, might have prompted this meeting.

The PA is also worried, the sources said, about moves by the UNP in recent weeks to woo Tamil voters.

The UNP leader Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, according to party sources, is expected to probe possibilities for opening a dialogue with the Liberation Tigers when he visits London later this year and for restarting tripartite British initiative for peace in the island.