Mahinda Rajapaksa accused the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) of hampering the government’s work to develop the area, reports Colombo Page.
Speaking at a public event in Killinochchi on Sunday, the Sri Lankan president said that the NPC was working against the government efforts to help the North-East in fear of losing votes from the public.
“They are not allowing us to do our work and they are not doing work either,” said Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa’s remarks come after the Northern Provincial Council chief minister rejected an invitation to a meeting chaired by the president, on the basis that it would be inappropriate to attend a meeting when Tamil speaking people continue to be marginalised
"It is established beyond any reasonable doubt that the Provincial Council system in the Northern Province and even in the Eastern Province within the current unitary constitutional architecture, especially in the post war context, in the absence of a sustainable political settlement are mere hollow structures devoid of authority to serve the needs and priorities of the war affected communities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces," said Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran in a letter to the Sri Lankan president.
NPC rejects Rajapaksa invite as Tamils 'continuing to be marginalised' (11 September 2014)
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