President 'ready for devolution'
The Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, says he is ready to "go beyond" the 13 amendment to the constitution as a political solution to the national question.
But he has told the foreign journalists at a breakfast meeting that he will never agree to devolve police powers into the regions. It can be clearly seen in India that the central government face serious difficulties as a result of devolving police powers to the States, Mr Rajapaksa has said. And he stressed that he will never agree for what he termed as "the solution sought by Prabhakaran" apparently on the Tamil Tigers' demand for a separate state for Sri Lanka's Tamils. APRC proposals The president said that he has requested Minister Douglas Devananda to negotiate with other Tamil parties to discuss their proposals as the solution to the national question. If the government comes up with its own proposal, President Rajapaksa told the journalists, the Tamil parties might raise objections. President Rajapaksa earlier appointed the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) to advise him on a political solution to the national question. The APRC which held hundreds of rounds of discussions has handed over its recommendations to the president, it's chairman Minister Tissa Vitharana earlier told BBC Sandeshaya. But commenting on the solution just before the presidential elections, Mr Rajapaksa has rejected the recommendations.