The Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, said to the Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka that the people in the province are against the continued presence of the military.

High Commissioner Bryce Hutcheson visited Jaffna with a delegation on Wednesday and met with the chief minister during his time in the North-East.

After the meeting, the Chief Minister, said to reporters,

"I can see the Central government and the Australian government are jointly involved in some activities. The role of the provincial government in these activities is less. I conveyed that it is proper to discuss with us, when it comes to helping our people."

Mr Wigneswaran said the high commissioner replied that it is being done jointly by both governments.

"I expressed that I am not against it. But, it is not correct to supersede the representatives of the people. And, he said that the same will be considered. Thereafter, he enquired about the present situation. I told him that there were some changes, however, the continued presence of the army is posing a problem for us. As per [the government's] claim, they provide us benefits, however, the continued presence of the army in the north, is not acceptable to our people,

"I reasoned him that six years was over since the end of war, so it will be proper to reduce the army presence. I stipulated that I am deeply hurt by the Central government’s actions, sidelining the provincial government. I also explained him that having given some powers to the provincial government, and describing it as power sharing, and later on, the Central government’s actions are in contradiction, only shows that it is against power sharing."