17A more important now than 13A: Ranil

Thursday, 11 July 2013 02:43 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The main Opposition UNP yesterday accused the Government of neglecting core issues faced by the public and instead putting more focus on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that before looking at the 13th Amendment, the Government should have looked at implementing the

17th Amendment to the Constitution. “Under the 17th Amendment an independent Police can be created, administration of the country will be strictly under the law, it provides for an independent Judiciary, corruption can be eliminated. These are the issues the people want addressed,” he said. He accused the Police of being politicised and Government divisional officers of being corrupt when implementing projects in their respective areas. Wickremesinghe noted that the Government had sent Minister Basil Rajapaksa to India to discuss the 13thAmendment instead of having discussions with the people of Sri Lanka about their main concerns. “Even before discussing with us about the 13th Amendment the Government sent Minister Basil Rajapaksa to New Delhi to discuss with them so then what’s the point in inviting us for talks?” he said. The UNP Leader noted that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has also not responded to a letter he had sent in June seeking talks on several issues ahead of the northern polls. “The northern elections have been announced but there is no response to my letter. So if the Government is not ready to discuss these issues, then what’s the point of a Parliament Select Committee?” he said. Wickremesinghe said that the Parliament Select Committee formed to discuss the 13th Amendment was missing several Government coalition members and not just the Opposition, so in his view it was incomplete. (Colombo Gazette)