New Constitution will not dilute country’s unitary status: PM
The proposed new Constitution will not dilute the unitary status of Sri Lanka in any way. It will seek maximum devolution of power under a unitary state, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
The Prime Minister who categorically stated that not a single clause which aims to dilute the country’s unitary status will be included in the new Constitution, added that safeguarding the foremost position afforded to Buddhism and protecting other religions was a prime objective of the government which would never permit a division of the country.
The Prime Minister made this observation addressing UNP activists at meetings at Talawa and Kahatagasdigiliya in the Anuradhapura district on September 30.
The Prime Minister who said that the country existed as unitary state from the D.S. Senanayake era added that its unitary status was legally established in 1972, which sovereignty was vested in Parliament.
“Through the 1978 Constitution, the UNP vested sovereignty in the people and the Parliament. In 1987, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was introduced granting devolution of power within a unitary state without causing any harm to the country’s unitary status. This measure also gained approval in the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister said.
(Source: Daily News – By Shiromi Abeysinghe)
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Proposed Constitution is foreign driven. Who asked for it? Majority of Sri Lankans say they never asked for it. Some say USA drafted it. Belgium offered to help. Some say English version, Tamil version and Sinhala version having different words for Unitary state of Sri Lanka. Tamil politicians say they want to combine N & E. Government says they doesn’t want to dilute anything. If this is the case, why we need a new constitution? To please whom?
if ranil has any sense of integrity he should publish the draft constitution and the public has aright to know and maybe express their views.
As is the absolute majority that ranil claims is a coalition of several parties the foundation of this coalition is nothing more than political survivalr
some members of this coalition could hardly read and those who can read can make any sense of the constitution that they took the oath to defend let alone rationalise the new one.
Y seeks to tinker with the constitution based on their party manifestoes but constitutionally they have a no right to it for the manifestoe did spell out their respective manufesto in relation to key issues that are debated.
Constitutionally the government has a right to constitutional reform then the government ought to seek a referendom on the changes,
ranil in this report talks of dilution that does not make any sense. Essentially there maybe contradictions that need resolution which is one story. If the objective is to accomodate a federated autonomous states then ranil ought to call for a referendum calling for such a dramatic change.
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