President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake on the instructions of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, has informed Party leaders and groups in writing to give the views and proposals of all political parties and groups representing the Parliament before August 15 regarding the enforcement of the 13th Constitutional Amendment.
An All-Party Conference representing Parliament was held at the President’s Office on July 26, under the chairmanship of President Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the programme implemented by the government and expected to be implemented in relation to national reconciliation, where the President informed the Party leaders.
The President stated that it is his intention to reach a decision after discussing the 13th Constitutional Amendment with all parties. President Ranil Wickremesinghe is also scheduled to present the government proposals related to the implementation of the 13th Government Constitution to the Parliament next week.
The President has presented a comprehensive proposal for the reconciliation and devolution of power and for furthering the multifaceted aspects of the Northern Development Plan and the President had earlier invited all Party leaders in Parliament to work with consensus for the sake of national unity regarding these measures.
Earlier, President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasised that he has presented the best proposal related to solving the problems of the people of the North and East and Tamil Party leaders should decide whether to take it forward or not.
The President also emphasised that the government has not in any way raised any preparations for the integration of the northern and eastern provinces or any discussion about it and that the purpose of this program is not to get political benefits but to solve the problems of the Tamil people in the North and East.
The President is of the opinion that in order to grant the police powers mentioned in the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, the agreement of all the Party leaders representing Parliament is necessary and for that a Two Thirds majority in Parliament is also required.
After the completion of the preliminary work on the division of powers, Bills regarding the running of the affairs of the Provincial Councils are also to be submitted to Parliament. Under the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, the power to make decisions regarding certain subjects is transferred to the Central Government and those subjects must be legally announced.
Shiromi Abeyasinghe