Sri Lanka's main opposition doubtful over success of talks between Tamil party and government

Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) has expressed doubts on reaching a positive outcome from the dialogue between the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the government.


UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake has told a press conference that dialogue between the TNA and the government was likely to fail.

He has said the government's politically unjust moves towards the Tamil community while holding talks with the TNA was likely to have a negative impact.

Attanayake has cited the decision to reduce the number of parliamentary seats allocated to the Jaffna District.

The TNA has threatened to go to courts over the issue if the government reduces the number of parliamentary seats for Jaffna district.

The government and the TNA are engaged in an ongoing dialogue to reach a consensus on a political solution to the ethnic issue.