President slams factions attempting to mislead public on proposed Constitution

President Maithripala Sirisena has hit out against detractors of the proposed constitution and called on the public not to be misled by them as a new Constitution has yet to be drafted.

Sri Lanka faced a three-decade-long, brutal war as a result of not providing solutions for the ethnic issues of the country in a timely and appropriate manner, said Sirisena, requesting all Sri Lankans, as true human beings who love the country, to join with him to build peace and reconciliation among all communities. 

The President made these remarks while addressing the Deepavali Festival 2017 organised by the Presidential Secretariat to mark the Festival of Light at the President’s House in Colombo on Thursday.

 “When the current Government is rebuilding the friendship and mutual understanding that was lost due to the thirty-year-long war, some extremists are trying to destroy this process,” he said. 

The President explained the importance of recognising the identities of all cultures in the country.

“We haven’t drafted any constitution so far. What was submitted to Parliament was only a report based on drafting a constitution. We only want to take ideas and proposals on that report,” he said.

The ceremony included many cultural events of the Hindu tradition. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Opposition Leader R. Sambandan, Minister D. M. Swaminadan, State Minister V. Radhakrishnan, Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy and Secretary to the President Austin Fernando were among those who took part in the event.