The Sri Lankan common opposition presidential candidate said that he rejects calls from Tamil leaders for a federal constitution that granted greater powers of autonomy to the predominantly Tamil speaking North-East, reports the Associated Press.
In a meeting led by a Buddhist monk at the National Heritage Party on Tuesday, opposition candidate, Maithripala Sirisena, further pledged to preserve constitutional prominence given to Buddhism, as part of an agreement to guarantee support from the National Heritage Party in the upcoming presidential elections.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was elected to the Northern Provincial Council elections last year under a mandate calling for a federal solution that devolved powers to a merged Northern and Eastern province and acknowledged the Tamil people's right to self-determination.
TNA calls for merged N-E based on a federal structure (04 September 2013)
See also:
Presidential candidate Sirisena signs MoU with opposition parties (01 December 2014)
JHU to sign MoU with Maithripala (29 November 2014)
I will protect Rajapaksas from war crime charges – Maithripala (28 November 2014)
Maithripala invited us for talks – BBS (24 November 2014)
Who is Maithripala Sirisena? (23 November 2014)
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