North provincial council could lead to Lanka separation

With the Sri Lankan government said to be preparing to constitute the Northern Provincial Council, the nationalists forces today warned that any such move could lead to an Eelam or a separate Tamil state.
"Setting up of the northern PC (Provincial Council) is like the government on its own tightening the noose on its neck," Gunadasa Amarasekera, the convenor of the National Organisations Collective, said today.
"It is the laying of road for the creation of the Eelam" he said.
"The government is trying to please the international community by doing that," he alleged.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is said to be preparing the order to constitute the Northern Provincial Council soon.

The order is expected to pave the way for holding the first ever election for the council in September this year.

The Rajapaksa government has come under continuous pressure from the international community to hold the northern election as a major step for reconciliation with the Tamils.
The opposition groups and the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance, have been clamouring to hold the election.
The main opposition UNP's general secretary said that the government needs to ensure a free and fair poll in the north.
"They must first ensure that independent elections commission and independent police commission are in place before the election," Attanayake said.

After the inaugural north and east provincial council held in 1988, no provincial council election has taken place in the north -- the worst-affected in nearly three-decade long war.
Provincial council system promoted by India as means of autonomy to Tamil minority was violently opposed by the LTTE.