Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Ajith P. Perera told Parliament yesterday that the Government should appoint a committee to draft a new Constitution if it is serious about reforms. While the Opposition is ready to support the drafting of a new Constitution, there has been no Budget allocation or expert consultation for the process, he said. Perera criticised the administration for failing to act on its electoral promise to introduce a new Constitution and abolish the Executive Presidency. He said that the SJB and the National People’s Power (NPP) had pledged Constitutional reform during the last Presidential election. Citing page 109 of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s manifesto, MP Perera told Parliament that the President had promised a Referendum-backed Constitution following public discourse.
However, since taking office, the President had not taken concrete steps towards this goal. “So far, President Dissanayake has addressed Parliament three times. When he inaugurated the new Parliamentary session, he did not say anything about a new Constitution. When he presented his plans, there was no mention of Constitutional reform. Even in his Budget speech, he had failed to allocate funds for this purpose. During the President’s Independence Day speech also, he did not mention it again,” Perera said.
He said that Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith had reiterated the need for a new Constitution on Independence Day, further underscoring the urgency of the matter.
