President Ranil Wickremesinghe convened a meeting at the Presidential Secretariat on June 08 to discuss the action plan for reconciliation.
During the meeting, the President instructed the relevant departments to expedite the drafting of legislation necessary for the plan’s implementation.
The progress of initiatives in five key areas -legislation, institutional activities, land issues, prisoner release and power decentralization - was also reviewed.
The discussion encompassed several important topics including the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), establishment of a National Land Council, and the formulation of a national land policy.
The president also emphasized the need for enhanced operations of the Office of Missing Persons, including its digitization and the issuance of certificates of absence for missing persons.
He also instructed the relevant parties to complete the ongoing initiatives to establish the Office of Reparations and the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation within the next two to three months.
A comprehensive report on the progress of these programmes was also requested.
Regarding land-related issues, particular attention was paid to resolving problems associated with the resettlement of displaced persons, releasing privately held lands for public use and addressing Mahaweli lands concerns.
The president emphasized the urgency of taking immediate action to settle these land-related issues and tasked the officials with devising effective mechanisms for their resolution.
To address the release of prisoners and amnesty matters, he gave instructions to submit a detailed report through the Ministry of Justice.
The discussion also covered topics such as power decentralization, provincial-level development plans, and the appointment of a provincial ombudsman.
Participants included Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabri, National Security Advisor and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayaka, President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, Prime Minister’s Secretary Anura Dissanayake, Defence Ministry Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne (Rtd) and Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam.
The Executive Director of the Missing Persons Office, and the district secretaries of Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa, Ampara, and Trincomalee as well as the Land commissioners of eastern and northern provinces joined the discussion via Zoom technology.
