FOREMOST POSITION FOR BUDDHISM - PRESIDENT

UNITARY STATUS enshrined UNDER NEW CONSTITUTION :

Saturday, September 30, 2017

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday assured that there would be no room for a division or a separation of the country under the proposed new constitution.

He also assured that his government would not in any way dilute the position given to Buddhism that has already been guaranteed in the present constitution. He made these remarks yesterday in response to the comments of several Maha Nayaka Theras,participating in a ceremony held at Gemunupura in Ampara.

President Sirisena also said that several nayake theras had commented to the media, that the new constitution is to be drafted based on Federalism, which is incorrect.

“I phoned Jayampathi Wickramaratne and inquired about the truth of this statement”, the President said.

“He said that nothing will consist in the constitution that will dilute the foremost position given to Buddhism. I asked his twice and he assured me that such clauses will not be included in the constitution”.

He also said that the former President had said that there should be a new constitution for power devolution.