Lanka will not be a federation: Ranil

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday assured Lanka’s Sinhalese majority, that the country will not be turned into a federal state under a new constitution.   

“There is no need to break the unitary status of the country,” Wickremesinghe said in a special statement to clear doubts sown in the minds of the people by the Joint Opposition Group (JOG) associated with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and a section of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which is part of his government.  

The Sinhalese, who are 70 percent of Lanka’s population, want the country to be a unitary state because they see federalism as a stepping stone to secession. The Tamil minority, on the other contrary, is clamoring for a federal set up.

An emotionally charged Prime Minister said that “as a Buddhist, Sinhalese and a Sri Lankan, he will not break the country.” He would keep the Sixth Amendment of the existing constitution which bans secessionism.

However, Wickremesinghe was non-committal on the status of Buddhism which has been enjoying “a foremost place” in the country. He said he would give his views on the matter after returning from Davos in Switzerland in the third week of this month.

The Sinhalese opposition’s doubts stemmed from the fact that the resolution on the new constitution which he moved in parliament on January 9, did not mention the need to retain the unitary character of the constitution and to give the foremost place to Buddhism.

The resolution mentioned, among the aims of a new constitution, the abolition of the Executive Presidency and the doing away of preferential votes in the electoral system. It also mentioned as a goal, constitutional provisions for promoting national reconciliation.

Wickremesinghe assured his opponents that the new constitution would be based on the views of the people gathered by the 24-member Public Representation Committee. The social media, which the youth use, will be looked into to know the views of the youth. The Prime Minister further said that he welcomes amendments to the resolution. And at any rate, the constitution will have to be passed by two thirds of the 225-member  parliament followed by a referendum. (New Indian Express)