was a comprehensive document covering all areas of governance and aimed at re-establishing the rule of law and the dignity and sovereign rights of the people, which had been forcibly taken away by the Rajapaksa regime.
Asked as to who was responsible for formulating its new policy document and if public representations were called, he said that it was the work of a committee headed by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe which also included the former Attorney General Tilak Marapana and MP’s Wijedasa Rajapaksa and Tissa Attanayake.
Ameratunga, said that a public debate on their proposed constitutional framework will be initiated shortly in every district to which a cross section of society including members of all professions will be invited.
"Our objective is to obtain the widest possible consensus in enacting a new Constitution so that it cannot be interpreted and abused at the whims and fancies of one man," he said adding that a future UNP government will within six months of coming to power hold a referendum to obtain the people’s consent for its new constitution.
Questioned as to why the UNP did not think of changing its very own Constitution when in power and had the required parliamentary majority, the MP replied that Constitutions evolved through the trials and tribulations faced by the people and it had reached the most disgusting, disgraceful and dangerous levels in the last seven years due to the UPFA governments power drunk arrogance and contempt for the rule of law and human rights.
The Rajapaksa regime, he noted cannot disassociate itself from the UNP’s proposed constitutional framework which had also incorporated its pledges to the Sri Lankan legislature and the United Nations. They included President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech to Parliament in May 2009, recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, the Tissa Vitarana Report and connected documents including papers exchanged at the talks between the SLFP and the TNA, joint communiqué by the UPFA government and the United Nations Secretary General in May 2009 and resolutions on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Ameratunga pointed out that there had been several changes to the present Constitution since the UNP had left office and the most draconian was the 18th Amendment which was enacted in the most unethical manner and in violation of the people’s will.
The 17th Amendment, which established the independent commissions aimed at good governance and transparency and could be described as a historic piece of legislation since it had the approval of the entire legislature with the exception of a sole Jathika Hela Urumaya parliamentarian, had been thrown into the dustbin with scant regard for the principles of a participatory democracy, he observed.
Mature and responsible governments by and large implemented their pledges, but the Rajapaksa regime by its actions was repeatedly humiliating the country and its people. The UNP’s objectives included restoring the pristine glory previously enjoyed by Sri Lankans in the international arena.
He said that the impeachment of the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and the absence of a Freedom of Information Act in violation of the principles laid down by the Commonwealth, to which Sri Lanka was a signatory, were just two of many examples of a dictatorship in operation.
Grand preparations were on at enormous cost to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo in November. But it was anybody’s guess as to how many countries would attend, Ameratunga observed.
No comments:
Post a Comment