Debate on Steering Committee report for new Constitution commenced in Parliament

The three day debate on  the Interim Report (IR) of the Steering Committee (SC) appointed to formulate proposals for a new Constitution commenced in Parliament a while ago. The debate is scheduled to continue three consecutive days till November 1.

Premier Ranil Wickremasinghe who heads the SC said, when presenting the IR said that that it was not the final document, but one that would be discussed in Parliament and one on which there must be consensus of the general public. Prior to the presentation of the SC’s IR, the Reports of six Sub Committees and another report by an ad-hoc Committee appointed by the SC, were tabled before the CA on Nov.19 and Dec.10, 2016, respectively.

The SC’s IR deals with the remaining six subjects not assigned to any Sub Committee, and contains principles and formulations that reflect the deliberations of the SC of the CA that met 73 times between April 2016 and September 2017. Among the matters contained in the IR is the thorny subject of how the country should be known as, be it “Unitary” or “United”.