'Constitutional Assembly: Steering committee report out soon'

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said the Steering committee of the Constitutional Assembly will put out its report soon.

He came up with this statement addressing the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) interior ministers meeting in Colombo last morning.

“It has taken us nearly one and a half years for the steering committee of the constitutional assembly to decide on writing a report. That one and a half year wait is worth it because we are putting it out soon,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the government had begun to address the issue of missing persons but stressed that confidence building also had to in place.

“We are addressing the issues of the missing persons. There has to be confidence building measures before enforcing laws and safeguarding human rights. We need time to get together. There was an unfortunate incident in the North recently and the police took action. Incidents are not limited to the North as it happens in the other parts of the country as well. Today like the other parts of the country action is being taken in the North as well. We have a top UN official in Colombo and we are more than happy to meet him and explain the situation to him,” he said. (By Yohan Perera)