Japanese special envoy Yashusi Akashi said in Trincomalee yesterday that his current visit to Sri Lanka takes place under a different scenario, when he met the Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan.
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| Akashi in the Eastern Province. |
He was able to meet the elected chief minister, his ministers and council members of the Eastern Province which had been returning to normalcy under a democratic administration, he said.
This was his seventeenth visit to Sri Lanka as a special peace envoy of the Government of Japan. Mr.Akashi expressed confidence that sustainable peace could be taken forward through the current democratic environment now prevailing in the Eastern Province. He assured the Chief Minister that he would take up with the higher authorities in Colombo the question of devolving powers to the provincial council under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The Chief Minister requested the Japanese envoy to assist to ensure democracy in the Northern Province too once it is completely liberated and provide financial assistance for the development of the province.
Mr. Chandrakanthan requested more financial assistance from the Government of Japan for the development of the Eastern Province so that democracy would be strengthened there after its absence for several years. |
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