``We have examples in the world where similar issues have been solved across the table and we see no reason why we can't do it here,'' Constitutional Affairs Minister Lakshman Peiris told reporters.

The government wants the United National Party (UNP) to support its plan to give more powers to the country's nine regions, including the ones where most of Sri Lanka's 3.3 million Tamils live. But this will require support from the UNP to amend the Constitution as the Government has a majority of only one seat in Parliament.

``The UNP wanted six months to study the proposals and give its opinion, but now 10 months have passed and nothing has come from them,'' Peiris said. ``Similar problems have been solved in Northern Ireland, in Bangladesh, in Rwanda, in Burundi and in Palestine. So why can't we do it here?'' he asked.

The ongoing military offensive forced the Government two weeks ago to increase its defence spending by 18 per cent to Rs 52 billion. ``The time has come for us to really give top priority to the issue and try to solve it,'' he said.

Peiris accused the UNP of sabotaging the plan by not taking it seriously, but the Opposition party has said in the past that it wants major changes in the plan.

The UNP wants power to be devolved only through existing provincial councils and not as extensively as proposed by the Government. It has also proposed that authority over Education, International Finance, Police and Land should remain with the Government. The Government had planned to retain only a few vital areas such as Foreign Policy, Defence, External Finance and Currency. The Government wants a new Constitution which will turn the President into a titular head of state and strengthen the powers of Parliament.

The draft Constitution also provides for the establishment of a multi-party Constitutional Council that will recommend the appointment of officers to certain vital public institutions.