Colombo, Dec 06: The decision of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels to accept a federal system of government in exchange for giving up war has evoked mixed reactions in Sri Lanka. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government agreed to evolve a system of devolution based on a federal structure aimed at giving autonomy to the minority Tamils in the embattled north and east, after the latest round of talks concluded in Oslo yesterday. Analysts, however, feel that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's government may find it difficult to convince the 74 per cent Sinhalese majority to opt for a "federal solution". "The Sinhalese would not be convinced as they would see the move as giving legitimacy to an already existing illegal administrative structure in the north and east," Piyasena Dissanayake of the national joint committee, a Sinhalese national movement said. Dissanayake said the majority community would not be happy with any set-up which devolves power above district level.

R Sampanthan, the general secretary of the main moderate Tamil party, however, said the war-weary Sinhalese public wanted a peaceful settlement and would accept the federal form of autonomy granted to the Tamils.

K M M B Kulatunga, a retired senior judge said, "it's only a dream, it is not going to work. You need two thirds parliamentary support and then approval at a referendum".

Bureau Report