Work on new Constitution to begin in May

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today said work on drafting the new constitution would begin in May after the report of the Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms was handed over in April.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said the views and opinions of everyone would be considered when drafting the new constitution.

Mr. Wickremesinghe expressed these views when he met with the members of the Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms at Temple Trees today.

He said they needed to move forward with drafting the constitution as the resolution to appoint a Constitutional Assembly to draft a new Constitution was passed in parliament on Tuesday (8).

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that while a new constitution was not envisaged the government would base the new constitution using two guidelines including that of amending the electoral system.

“When we brought in the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, everyone was not in agreement about the electoral system. We are holding discussions with the main political parties on the electoral system. But we will consider the recommendations of the Public Representations Committee before taking a decision on this,” he said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe requested the committee to submit their report by April 31 so that the work on the new constitution could begin by May. He said what people expected was not a UNP, SLFP or JVP constitution but a new constitution to suit the 21st century.

The committee informed the Prime Minister that they would submit an additional report based on the ideas put forward by the general public to which Mr. Wickremesinghe responded that he would take them also into consideration when drafting the constitution and include some provisions in the constitution to look into those concerns as well. (Ajith Siriwardana)

Video by Sanjeewa

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