The hardline Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader, Udaya Gammanpila today accused the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) of not having accepted the unitary state of Sri Lanka.
"Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said recently that there was no draft Constitution and that the TNA had accepted the concept of a Unitary State. Unfortunately, the PM still attempts to deceive the nation. We pointed out that the phrase 'this Constitution' can be found in the first page of the document tabled by him in the Constitutional Assembly," Gammanpila told a news briefing.
Accusing the TNA of introducing 'federal features' into the constitution, he added, "having a TV debate with us, he further said they were not ready to accept the concept of a Unitary State. They accept ‘Aekiya Rajyaya’ after assigning their own definition. Hence, nobody can claim that the TNA has accepted the concept of a Unitary State. We must be thankful for MPs Sampanthan and Sumanthiran for accepting the fact that the draft Constitution is full of federal features."
Despite his comments, the TNA has faced criticised from Tamil politicians and activists for failing to push a federal agenda, as it had pledged to do so.
