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‘Interim State’ resolution at Pongu Thamil rally
By Chris Kamalendran in Jaffna
The LTTE-backed Pongu Thamil event in Jaffna on Friday, attended by two UNF government representatives, demanded an " interim state" for the country's North and East. The move, a drastic step ahead of the contentious demand for an " interim administrative structure", came as the crux of a resolution adopted at a largely attended rally.

The UNF representatives were Saman Athaudahetti, Media Secretary to the Prime Minister and S. Pathmanathan, Assistant Secretary in the PM's office. Mr. Pathmanathan publicly endorsed the LTTE demand for troops to withdraw from High Security Zones (HSZ) in Jaffna to enable civilians to return to their homesteads.

He told The Sunday Times that the government was keen to bring back the civilians to their original places by getting the security forces to withdraw from areas, but due to the rift with the President there was division on the issue. The demand of the LTTE was set out in a resolution moved at the 'Pongu Thamil' celebrations held at the Jaffna University grounds where the main theme of the event was to call the security forces to withdraw from civilian houses they were occupying in the Jaffna peninsula.

The resolution said that the LTTE should be given 'full authority' in the 'interim state' they were demanding. These developments came as LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham said that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe did not have sufficient constitutional powers to resolve the ethnic conflict.

In an interview to the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna, Mr. Balasingham said the Prime Minister had only parliamentary powers and President Chandrika Kumaratunga had the executive powers preventing the Prime Minister from providing a solution to the conflict.

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