<b>President begins national consultation today</b>

The Island

President Chandrika Kumaratunga will commence the national consultation on Ethnic Reconciliation today (26) at the Presidential Secretariat. President Kumaratunga’s office has invited the UNP-led government, other political parties, civil society organisations, trade chambers and religious organisations to send in representatives.

The following is the full text of the statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat:

The programme will include an address by the President and a brief summary of current issues in the peace process by Adviser to the President, Lakshman Kadirgamar. It is intended that the consultation will be interactive and the participants will be invited to share their own perspectives, comments and views. A tabling of relevant documentation would also be welcome.

The Presidential Peace Advisory Council (PAC) will be repository of the information and views garnered from the consultation while the PAC will also act in an expert advisory capacity to the consultation.

Participation at future consultations will be based on requests from organizations and persons who wish to do so and notices to that effect have already been published in the national newspapers, requesting those interested to write to the Secretary to the President, clearly indicating National Consultation on Ethnic Reconciliation on the top left of the envelope. It is also intended that the consultation will be conducted in the provinces.

The purpose of the consultation is to have the widest possible dialogue with all sections of society with regard to the issues that have divided us as a nation and the measures required to create a truly multi ethnic and pluralist society. Two decades of a civil conflict has created a polarized society, with a myriad of human disaster problems, including but not limited to the issues of child soldiers, internally displaced persons, war orphans, war widows, the maimed and the dispossessed. The conflict has also brutalized our society and it is necessary to bring healing and reconciliation to our nation and its peoples. It is believed that the widest possible discussion and dialogue, together with honest remedies for the issues that divide us, will create the understanding among the people groups that is the essential bedrock of ethnic harmony and national reconciliation in our land.

The Island