Lankan PM calls for consensus to solve the problem of insurgency

Dehra Dun, Nov 26 (UNI) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, today said an inclusive approach and consensus was necessary for finding a lasting solution to the serious problem of insurgency in his country.

Inaugurating the first Asian Mayors Conference here, the Lankan President made it clear that no short cuts work in resolving conflicts or problems, whether national or local.

''People try to push us towards adopting magic formulae and cut and paste solution, which we have been seeing from our own experience, do not stand test of time. They do so because they do not properly understand the exact nature of our specific problems - its history, its contours, its cultural aspects and the dynamics of its expression,'' he said while, citing the insurgency the Island nation was battling.

He said the basic principles of good governance are the same, ''whether it concern towns and cities or whether it concerns entire nations''.

''In our country we are crafting an all party approach towards national problems with great success. We have an all party conference, an all party representative committee and a memorandum of an understanding between the government and the main opposition party to work towards a consensus on the solution to the ethnic problem: a solution that will sustain itself with all political groups including all the Tamil Groups in the country," he said, adding that they had several democratic Tamil Parties representing Tamil people and also one terrorist group called the LTTE.'' He said his government achieved a lot as it tried to work out various problems by arriving at a consensus with all the parties concerned.

''Some people will complain that the progress is slow. They do not realize the obvious, - namely, that a festering wound cannot be healed in a day,'' he added.

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