ECONOMYNEXT —A National People’s Power (NPP) government will hold a referendum on a new constitution, hold the delayed provincial council and local government polls within a year, and appoint a commission to investigate discrimination,  NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.

Speaking at a rally in Jaffna on Thursday September 05, Dissanayake said an NPP administration will draft a new constitution on the premise of equality, democracy and participatory governance as one country, picking up where the 2015-2019 administration left off.

“A lot of southern politicians try to make deals with the people of north. They say ‘Vote for us; we’ll give you the 13th amendment or 13 or land powers’. How long have they been doing this?  I’m not here for that. If I came to make a deal with you, you might say 13 is not enough, give us plus. My first intention is to build a government that has won the confidence of both the north and the south,” he said.

“Governments in our country were formed against the ‘other’. Governments in the south were formed against the north. Sinhala governments were formed against Tamil people. My first objective is to change this politics of opposition to the other,” he added.

Dissanayake said that there has been a need for a new constitution in Sri Lanka for a long time.

“In 2000 a new constitution was drafted. Ranil Wickremesinghe and co set fire to it in parliament and put an end to that. There was conversation again about the constitution between 2015 and 2019, but there was no conclusion,” he said.

The NPP leader said the NPP plans to “rapidly conclude the process that began in  2015-2019” and draft a new constitution based on equality and democracy and where everyone can participate in governance as one country. The draft constitution will seek to “devolve power politically and administratively to every local government body, district and province and guarantee the political participation of every ethnicity”.

“We have presented a proposal for a new constitution. A summary of that proposal has been given to you. We will get this constitution approved at a referendum in a very short time and make it Sri Lanka’s main law,” he said.

Dissanayake noted that provincial council elections haven’t been held in six years and local govt elections have been delayed by two years.

“These elections which have been postponed indefinitely will be held within a year and people’s opportunity to participate in governance will be affirmed,” he said.

An NPP government will also appoint a commission empowered to take legal action against discrimination, he said.

“There are Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in this country. There are Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims. There are those who speak Sinhala and Tamil languages. There’s a diverse set of communities. Until racism is completely ended, there is a danger of some uncertainties among these groups, of being discriminated against. We will appoint a commission that has the power to take legal action against discrimination. People can complain to this commission of any instances of discrimination,” he said.

Claiming that an NPP victory at the September 21 presidential election is a sure thing, Dissanayake urged Tamils in the north to be a part of that victory and not to stand in opposition to it.