Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan yesterday said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's support will be essential for the approval of a new constitution.

Taking part in the Parliamentary debate on the resolution to establish a Constitutional Assembly, Sampanthan said that Rajapaksa was a national leader.

Drafting a new constitution is a national task. Therefore, the support of national leaders was essential in this, he added.

Sampanthan acknowledged that Rajapaksa also attempted to introduce a constitutional solution to the national question. Therefore, he expressed confidence that Rajapaksa will contribute to the effort.

Rajapaksa will also be able to create a new future in politics by contributing to this effort, Sampanthan said.

President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday pledged to commence a special process at the end of the month to address and solve the issues of Tamil prisoners arrested and detained under the prevention of terrorism laws, Opposition Leader R Sampanthan told BBC.

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The undertaking was conveyed to Justice Minister, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Opposition Leader, R. Sampanthan over a telephone conversation on Friday.

Accordingly, the government would commence a special process on October 31 to solve this issue, which would be complete by November 7.

TNA MPs Sampanthan and Sumanthiran met Rajapashe at the Justice Ministry on Friday to discuss the issues of prisoners who had launched a hunger strike, calling for their release and to expedite the cases which had been in progress for years.

Both Rajapakshe and Sumanthiran visited prison inmates in the Welikada prison earlier in the week where Rajapakshe pledged to convene a high level meeting of government ministers to discuss the demands raised by the prisoners.

He also said that the government would solve the issue by the end of the year.

However, since the inmates rejected this undertaking, the TNA MPs met with Rajapakshe to discuss the matter.

The suspected ex-LTTE detainees launched a hunger strike last Monday across several prisons in the island.

India and Sri Lanka should hold joint naval patrols to prevent fishermen from poaching in each others' waters, Sri Lanka's main opposition leader said today.

Speaking during a debate on alleged poaching by Indian fishermen in northern Sri Lanka, opposition leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan said the incursions had also raised tensions between the two countries and should be resolved amicably.

"This is a matter that raises hostilities between the people of the two countries. Therefore, I urge the government of Sri Lanka to take some action with the Indian government and Tamil Nadu state government."

Sampanthan told parliament that India's navy and the coastguard should work together with Sri Lankan counterparts to patrol their international maritime border.

"The action could be for the navy to patrol the border. Both Indian and Sri Lankan navies should carry out joint patrolling that will prevent Indian fishermen and their trawlers from coming in.

"A joint exercise where their navies are engaged. Their coast guards are also engaged," he said, adding that fishermen of both countries should also be helped to upgrade their craft so that they could engage in deep sea fishing.

Fishermen violating each other's territorial waters has become a thorny issue in the Indo-Lanka relations and all previous attempts have failed to amicably resolve the problem.

The opposition JVP, or People's Liberation Front, which moved a resolution condemning the government over its inaction to deal with poaching by Indian fishermen, urged the navy to prosecute boat owners rather than arresting fishermen.

"We have laws under which the authorities can detain the skippers of boats rather than arresting and detaining the poor Indian fishermen," JVP's Vijitha Herath said.

He said thousands of Indian trawlers were engaging in bottom trawling, a practice Sri Lanka has outlawed.

He said entire fish stocks were being wiped out because of the destructive bottom trawling.

"At least thrice a week we see 1,500 Indian trawlers encroaching into our waters and depriving our fishermen of their livelihood," Herath said.

(PTI)

For the first time after the exit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from the Sri Lankan Tamil political scene in May 2009, Jaffna district politics is witnessing a clash between moderates and radicals on the ethnic issue, The New Indian Express said.

The clash could reach a high point if the Central Committee of the moderate Tamil National Alliance (TNA) entertains a discussion on the recent anti-party activities of the increasingly radical Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran, the report further stated.

The New Indian Express further said that during the August 17 parliamentary elections, Wigneswaran had indirectly asked Tamils to vote for the radical Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF), instead of his own party, the TNA.

However, during the election period. TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran explained Wigneswaran's decision as a result of the preferential voting system. Speaking to Asian Mirror, he said that Wigneswaran remains in the TNA and pulled out of the campaign since he did not want to be involved in individual competitions for preferential votes.

Political observers are surprised that the TNA is facing such a challenge after convincingly winning five out of the seven seats in the Tamil heartland of Jaffna, and after being named the official opposition in the Lankan parliament.

However, this shows the division between the moderates and the radicals which had always been an underlying issue within the TNA.

While the internal challengers are the defeated candidates with a radical past, and of course Wigneswaran, the external challengers are the Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF), Tamil civil society, the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora and the Tamil media.

The radicals want an international probe into the war crimes charges plus an international judicial tribunal. The moderates say that an international probe has already been conducted and that its report will be placed before the UNHRC on September 30. What the Tamils should demand now is an international court to try those indicted in the report, the moderates suggest. The radicals point out that the so-called international “probe” report is not based on field visits.

(With inputs from The New Indian Express)

Three political parties of the Tamil National Alliance have made a request from TNA leader R. Sampanthan to convene the Coordination Committee of the alliance, Northern Provincial Council member M.K. Sivajilingam said.

He said that the EPRLF, the TELO and the PLOTE have made this request.

The reason for the request is the different opinions voiced by different senior party members of the TNA, Sivajilingam stated. Mavai Senathirajah, the leader of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi recently said that there was no need for an international investigation since an investigation has been done already. Senathirajah also criticized Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran for supporting an international inquiry.

Meanwhile, TNA leader R. Sampanthan said that he cannot oppose an international inquiry if the people makes demands for it.

The ITAK is the largest party of the four party alliance.