National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa yesterday alleged former President Chandrika Kumaratunga had thrown her weight behind those opposing the government bid to dilute the 13th Amendment ahead of the first Northern Provincial Council poll.

Addressing the media at NFF headquarters, Minister Weerawansa charged that the former SLFP leader had been involved in the project to save the 13th Amendment, thereby sabotaging the government initiative.

Colombo District MP Weerawansa claimed that Mrs. Kumaratunga would exploit a deepening rift among UPFA constituents to pave the way for her son, Vimukthi to enter politics.

According to MP Weerawansa, the left parties in the SLFP-led ruling coalition and the likes of Ministers, Rajitha Senaratne and Reginald Cooray as well as the remnant of Mahajana Pakshaya had been fully involved in the campaign to thwart the government initiative.

Responding to a media query, MP Weerawansa alleged that Mrs. Kumaratunga had been trying to take hold of a section of the SLFP, which had distanced itself from federalism with the introduction of Mahinda Chintanaya in the run-up to the Nov. 2005 presidential election. In spite of the conclusion of the conflict four years ago, the 13th Amendment remained a threat to unitary status of the country, he said.

The NFF Leader recollected the circumstances under which the then Indian government had forced the 13th Amendment on Sri Lanka in July 1987.

Minister Weerawansa emphasised that those provisions in the 13th Amendment inimical to national interests should be rescinded. Responding to Minister Weerawansa’s allegations, General Secretary of the Communist Party Minister D. E. W. Gunasekera claimed that the NFF leader was making a bid to poison the mind of President Rajapaksa.

Minister Gunasekera said: “Weerawansa initially accused India of influencing our campaign. Then he alleged we received the backing of foreign funded NGOs. Weerawansa is bent on causing trouble both in and outside Cabinet.”

Asked whether their grouping had been in touch with Mrs. Kumaratunga, Minister Gunasekera emphasized that there was absolutely no basis for MP Weerawansa’s claim. He said Mrs. Kumaratunga had always supported a federal solution to the national problem and that was no secret. “Similarly, we, too, have taken a similar stand since the introduction of the Provincial Council system in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1987. Taking a common stand on a particular issue doesn’t mean there is a conspiracy,” Minister Gunasekera said. (By Shamindra Ferdinando)

Source: The Islands (Sri Lanka)