Unitary status, foremost place to Buddhism will remain unchanged : PM

The unitary status of the existing Constitution as well as the foremost place guaranteed to Buddhism will remain unchanged during the constitutional making process, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Constitutional Assembly today.

The Prime Minister also said that the UNP stands for the abolition of the executive presidency. He was speaking after presenting several reports prepared by the Constitutional Assembly.

These included a report prepared by the Panel of Experts for the Steering Committee which is based on the Interim Report, six Sub Committee Reports, the Report of the ad hoc Sub Committee set up by the Steering Committee to look into the relationship between the Parliament and the Provincial Councils.

 The Prime Minister said a "final draft could be worked out from the reports we now have. It was decided on Sept 06 to present the reports of the committees to the constitutional assembly."

“We have been given a mandate to formulate a new constitution. There are proposals to strengthen the freedom of faith. We however would not touch the Ninth Section of the constitution to amend it. There are various proposals as to how power could be devolved within a unitary state. We could select the most suitable proposals and develop them in formulating the new constitution. In that manner we could move forward,” the Prime Minster  said.

See report submitted today

https://english.constitutionalassembly.lk/images/pdf/2019/01C-Report-English-AA.pdf

(CK)