National Peace Council is organizing a Public Forum entitled ''Non Devolutionary Constitutional Reforms: An Alternative or Supplement to Devolution?” This event is being held on Tuesday the 27th of October 2009 between 3.00 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, Horton Place, Colombo 07.

This forum will include contributions from the following dignitaries:

• Hon. Karu Jayasuriya, MP, Deputy Leader, United National Party

• Hon. R. Sampanthan, MP, Leader, Tamil National Alliance

• Mr. Nizam Kariappar, Deputy Leader, Sri Lanka Muslim congress

• Hon. Mano Ganesan, MP, Leader, Democratic People's Front

• Hon. Udaya Gammanpila, MPC, Minister of Agriculture, Agrarian Development, Minor Irrigation Industries and Enviroment (Western Province), Jathika Hela Urumaya

• Mr. Rohan Edrisinha, Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo.

The invitees include Prominent Civil Society leaders, Religious Leaders, Diplomatic Missions, Donors, Media Personnel, Academics, and NPC staff etc.

The Concept Note on which the Forum plans to discuss is as follows:

The comprehensive military defeat of the LTTE brought three decades of war in Sri Lanka to a conclusion but there are many issues that still need to be addressed in order to bring about a definitive end to the ethnic conflict.

In order to secure a just and lasting peace it is appropriate to examine the roots of the conflict and find ways to rectify the damage that has already been done. The call from the Tamil polity has been for the devolution of power to the provinces, which would permit a measure of self-governance.

As this remains a highly contentious subject especially in today's post-war and pre-election period, it is prudent to look at alternative ways of achieving equality for all sections of society.  A lasting political solution would arguably need to have both devolution of power as well as non-devolution based reforms.

The implementation of the Tamil Language Act can be considered as a means of enabling a greater sense of equality in public life for Tamil speaking people. Power sharing at the centre and economic development that benefits these regions could also be explored.

The equal power or guarantee of minority interests in parliament may be ensured by incorporating provisions such as the utilisation of concurrent majorities, as found in the Northern Ireland parliament.

The 17 Amendment is another key element in ensuring good governance throughout the country and its non-implementation may be mentioned in any argument aimed as solving the ethnic conflict.