JHU wants presidency retained; SLMC willing to compromise on Buddhism clause

JHU General Secretary Champika Ranawaka insisted yesterday that the presidency could not be abolished until a stable parliamentary system was in place that would prevent anarchy and instability in the country. 

Speaking during the debate on the interim report of the Steering Committee at the Constitutional Assembly yesterday, Ranawaka said the presidency had been democratised through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and its powers had been pruned.

“In this process we must also contemplate how this country is going to be governed in the future. A strong presidency will be important in times of political instability,” the nationalist politician explained.

Ranawaka said that the new electoral system would be tested during the Local Government elections in the near future. “The anarchy the system is going to cause in local government bodies will signal the fate of a future parliament under this electoral system too,” he warned.

Referring to the proposals in the Interim Report, Ranawaka said the JHU stood for an unitary state. He added that since there had been no major discrimination practiced against the Tamil people since 1987, there was no cause to for power sharing arrangements in a new Constitution to go beyond the 13th Amendment. 

Ranawaka also insisted that Article 9 of the present Constitution, affording Buddhism foremost place in the country be retained as it is, since other articles on equality guarantee the rights of other religions.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Rauff Hakeem said his party took the position of the TNA that Sri Lanka should be a secular state, but agreed with the main Tamil party that compromise would be possible as long as the rights of other religions are also guaranteed in a new Constitution.

Hakeem noted that new constitutions should ideally be enacted during the first six months or so of a Government’s term. “Now this Government is in midlife crisis. But we cannot leave this for another generation to deal with. Let us finish dealing with this while Hon. Sampanthan is in this House,” Hakeem urged. 

(DB)