Process of making constitution ‘should include all parties, communities’

COLOMBO: The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has requested the government to covert parliament into a Constitutional Assembly to draft a new constitution instead of appointing an Experts Committee to do it.

Speaking at a news briefing, SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella said they have no faith in an experts committee of lawyers who are allies of the government to do the job.

“We have been invited by this experts committee to submit proposals for a new constitution. Our stance is that a group of lawyers cannot be given the authority to draft a constitution,” he said.

He said the process of making a constitution should include all parties and all communities.

“If the parliament was converted into a Constitutional Assembly, we can obtain opinions and views of everyone. The former UNF Government made a draft for a new Constitution by converting the parliament into a Constitutional Assembly but the parliament was dissolved before it was finalized,” he said.