The relatively smooth manner in which the government succeeded in postponing the forthcoming provincial council elections, in the aftermath of its failure to pass the 20th Amendment, is an indicator of the weakness of the Joint Opposition. They were neither able to challenge the government in parliament nor mobilize public sentiment on the issue. It has been left to a retired chief justice to file his own individual action in the courts. The question is why the Joint Opposition, which has over 50 MPs in parliament who are pledging their commitment to the country, was unable or unwilling to mobilize public sentiment of the postponement of the elections.

Workshops on pluralism and diversity were held in Batticaloa and Trincomalee for DIRC members under NPC’s project Promoting Inter-Faith and Inter-ethnic Dialogue in Sri Lanka.

Aspects of the new Constitution were discussed and misconceptions were cleared up at a meeting organized by Kandy DIRC under NPC’s project Initiating Multi Level Partnership Action for Conflict Transformation (IMPACT). Around 100 DIRC members, religious leaders and activists, of whom 30 per cent were women, participated.

Badulla DIRC organised a peace walk through Badulla town for raising awareness on building national unity through inter religious harmony. DIRC members met several leaders of the four religions to obtain their support for the walk and to set the agenda.