M89

10 August 1995

SRI LANKA: AUSTRALIA WELCOMES CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS

The Australian Government welcomes the announcement on 3 August by President Chandrika Kumaratunga of her Government's proposals for sweeping changes to Sri Lanka's Constitution, which provides a new hope for a political solution to the ethnic conflict that has afflicted the country for more than a decade.

The proposals envisage the devolution of significant powers from the central government to regions while retaining the unity of the country in a 'Union of Regions'. The regions would enjoy a high degree of political autonomy.

The Australian Government has consistently urged a political solution to the ethnic conflict and an end to the cycle of violence, the latest phase of which followed the unilateral abrogation of the three month long cessation of hostilities on 19 April by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The constitutional reform proposals announced by President Kumaratunga recognise the underlying causes of the conflict and demonstrate the commitment of the Sri Lankan Government to a just and peaceful long-term solution.

The Australian Government hopes that these proposals, which directly address aspirations and concerns of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka and introduce a significant new dimension to the prospects for peace and reconciliation, will be seriously considered by all the people of Sri Lanka as the basis for a durable settlement to the conflict.