PM calls for grabbing golden opportunity to achieve unity, progress
Ranil
The choice Sri Lanka had was between finding a solution to the national problem by way of constitutional reforms and missing the unprecedented opportunity which had presented itself, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told Parliament yesterday.
The PM, participating in the debate on the interim committee report of the constitutional assembly, said that the unitary status of the country would not be compromised.
Yesterday was the third day of the four-day debate.
"We will endeavour to introduce a new Constitution while safeguarding the unitary status of the country. We are doing so in keeping with the mandate we received from the people at the last election. We appointed six sub-committees to make recommendations in the areas of fundamental rights, judiciary, finance, law and order, public service and centre-periphery relations.
The subjects that did not come under the purview of those sub committees were placed under the Steering Committee. The PM said they had covered considerable ground in the process of making the new constitution with the consent of all parties represented in parliament.
"The steering committee has prepared an interim report. There are recommendations from various parties. The interim report contains a summary of what has been discussed by the steering committee that met 73 times. This is not a draft for a new constitution. There are various suggestions and alternative views in this report. All those recommendations are included in the report. We have provided an opportunity for each and every MP to express his or her views on the report.
"We are yet to consider the recommendations of the six sub-committees. They need to be discussed with the people. Now we only discuss the content of the interim report.
"We intend to discuss this with Maha Nayake Theras. We will discuss it with other religious leaders as well. This should be thoroughly discussed in the public domain. That would take some more time. We guess that the process would go until the next Sinhala new year.
"Thereafter, we will discuss this as parties again. We will take into consideration the opinions of the general public. It is only after that the draft agreed by all parties will be presented to this assembly again. Some reform recommendations can be rejected. The amended draft will be presented to this assembly and if it is not passed then this assembly, too, will be dissolved. If it passed with a simple majority it will be presented to Parliament. If it is ratified with a two-thirds majority then it will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers. Thereafter, the final draft will be presented to Parliament again. A decision on the new constitution can be taken then. If necessary we can go for a referendum.
"This cannot be done in haste. We need to discuss these matters at length. For the first time all parties have come together. They may have diverse opinions and views but they are here together for a common task. That is what is important.
"We should make use of this opportunity to go forward. Going forward does not mean that we will agree with every recommendation. We can iron out differences through discussion.
"There are diverse opinions over the official language. There were issues pertaining to the place of Buddhism in the Constitution. When the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was introduced, there was a clamour that the country was being divided. But, those who shouted then today shout for the protection of the 13th amendment. Today, they state that the 13th amendment would ensure the unitary status of the country.
"The war is over but the root causes of the conflict remains unsolved. We need to find solutions. We can do so through negotiations.
"I call upon those who oppose this process not to spread lies that the country would be divided. The majority of this parliament are Sinhala Buddhists. We are not here to destroy Sinhalaness and Buddhism. We were the ones who developed temples and monasteries. Did we do so to destroy the Sasana or to destroy Sinhala Buddhism? Are we here today to do away with the unitary status? We saved the unitary status through the 13th Amendment. We do not need to destroy Sinhala Buddhism. We also do not need to harm the unitary status of the country. Let us join and find a solution to the national problem. We could reach a national consensus.
"The Joint Opposition says that the Maha Nayakes have issued a statement that we should not formulate a new constitution which would harm the unitary status of the country and do away with the constitutional provision giving Buddhism the foremost place. The Joint Opposition says that it agrees with the Maha Nayakes’ statement. We, too, are in agreement with the Maha Nayakes’ statement. The President of the country, too, is in agreement with that.
(Joint opposition MPs shout at the Prime Minister)
"Why are you shouting? I said that I am in agreement with what you have agreed. The Joint Opposition does not want to accept our agreement with them. Let’s work together.
(Joint opposition MPs shout at the Prime Minister)
"They shout when we propose to unite. Their opinion is that sovereignty should be vested with the people. We agree with that. There is no issue about the position given to Buddhism in the Constitution. The Joint Opposition demands that provinces not be merged. We cannot merge provinces without the agreement of the entire nation. Only if people of entire country agrees we could merge or demerge provinces. There is a demand to abolish the executive presidency. We are ready to consider that. Then there is a demand that the Opposition Leader be elected by the MPs in the Opposition. We agree with that, too. They say that the provincial councils should not be a threat to the national security. That is my opinion as well. They demand that the powers of provincial councils be placed under the powers of the central government. Yes we agree with that too. They demand that local businessmen be protected and helped. We agree with that, too. I could recall how they protected the local businessmen. It was they who acquired Daya Gamage’s companies. Are they willing to give them back? There is a demand that the welfare programmes be continued. We are not against it. We are also in agreement with their proposal for a new electoral system. We can discuss these issues and then we can reach a compromising position which would be agreed by all. If we do this right now, the future generations would be thankful to us.
