SB calls for national PC

by Cyril Wimalasurendre

 UNP National Organiser S. B. Dissanayake has proposed a National Provincial Council for the Eastern Province.

Addressing the press in Kandy on Sunday the outspoken politician said that he was happy with the government’s victory at the just concluded election but regretted the way the ruling coalition had secured the first Eastern Provincial Council.

After a lapse of twenty years the people of the Eastern Province had enjoyed their right to vote, the former SLFP heavyweight said. He called for the establishment of a National Provincial Council to run the province. Such an arrangement would involve people of all three communities, he said, expressing the belief all parties would take advantage of the current situation to encourage unity among the communities.

He has stressed the need for a power sharing arrangement to ensure the people would receive full benefits of the newly elected EPC.

Dissanayake severely criticised the government for allowing the breakaway LTTE faction the TMVP to engage in violence in the run up to Saturday’s poll. The abuse of public property and an organised campaign of terror had facilitated the government victory, he said.

He was in Kandy to attend a function organised by the Dumbara Lions to gift school books and other material to children at the Kandyan Cultural Centre under the patronage of the president of the Lions Club, Kandy Municipal Council Member Raja Pushpakumara yesterday.