Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa held a special meeting with Tamil and Muslim Members of Parliament from the opposition benches on Wednesday, at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Parliament.
The discussion centred on issues affecting people living in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
According to a statement from the Opposition Leader’s Media Unit, the MPs briefed Premadasa on a range of social, economic and development challenges that continue to affect daily life in those areas. The meeting also examined how to raise those concerns more prominently in Parliament, and what political and legislative interventions would be needed to address them.
Who attended
Several opposition lawmakers took part, including Rauff Hakeem, Mano Ganesan, Selvam Adaikalanathan, Rasamanickam Shanakiyan, Thurairasa Ravikaran, Dr. Ramanathan Archchuna and Kader Mastan.
The group spans the main minority-party blocs in the opposition, drawing in the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the Tamil Progressive Alliance, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization and independent northern members.
Context
The meeting comes during a heavily contested parliamentary session dominated by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which was tabled on August 18 and has since drawn a series of Supreme Court petitions.
Premadasa has made repeated commitments on northern and eastern issues in recent months, including on the implementation of the 13th Amendment, which provides for devolution to provincial councils. Provincial council elections have not been held since 2018.
NewsFirst’s report did not detail what specific measures, if any, were agreed at the meeting. No other verified newsroom had reported it at the time of writing.
