Sri Lanka President reaffirms plans for new constitution and Provincial Council elections

Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to constitutional reform, abolishing the Executive Presidency and holding Provincial Council elections.

The President made these remarks during a meeting with representatives of an alliance of six Tamil and Muslim political parties at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo yesterday morning (August 3).

The representatives raised several matters affecting Tamil-speaking communities and the wider public. These included the introduction of a comprehensive new Constitution, Provincial Council elections, concerns affecting the Northern and Eastern Provinces, and issues faced by the Malayagam, or Hill Country Tamil, community.

Provincial Council elections

Provincial Council elections were a key topic during the meeting.

President Dissanayake said a Parliamentary Select Committee had been appointed to examine matters related to holding the elections. He said he expected to meet with the committee to discuss the issues that have arisen.

Alliance members also raised concerns about the Provincial Council electoral system and the work of the Delimitation Commission.

New Constitution and Executive Presidency

The meeting also discussed the Government’s election manifesto proposal to introduce a new Constitution.

Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) General Secretary M.A. Sumanthiran said drafting a new Constitution should not be rushed.

He said the process should take place through a broad national dialogue that addresses the concerns of the country’s different communities.

Sumanthiran said the new Constitution should not be introduced unilaterally by one political party, as he said had happened with the Constitutions of 1948, 1972 and 1978.

Responding to the proposals, President Dissanayake said the Government’s position was that the Constitution should be reformed and the Executive Presidency abolished.

However, he said the Government would not prioritise a hastily prepared constitutional amendment. Instead, the immediate priority would be to build a new national consensus through a broad and inclusive dialogue.

The President said the Government had laid the foundation for a country in which people act together as Sri Lankans instead of pursuing the interests of individual ethnic communities.

He noted that the country had remained free of ethnic unrest during the Government’s term and said his vision was to establish a system of governance that was clearly accountable to Parliament.

Land ownership for the Malayagam community

The meeting also discussed the Government’s proposal to grant estate workers and estate staff legal ownership of 10-perch plots of land for residential purposes.

The proposal is part of efforts to improve the living standards of the Malayagam community.

Tamil Progressive Alliance representative V. Radhakrishnan expressed hope that the current Government would implement the proposal.

He said previous governments had been unable to do so because of opposition from plantation companies.

President Dissanayake said plantation companies had entered into lease agreements with the State at different times and under different circumstances.

He said the agreements would have to be renewed before 2042. The Government intends to include provisions in the new agreements to grant members of the Malayagam community legal ownership of their residential land.

The President also noted that landslides had been reported in parts of the Central Highlands where there were no human settlements.

He said solutions must protect the long-term environmental sustainability of the Central Highlands and noted that a separate authority had already been established for this purpose.

The Government also expects to address challenges faced by the Malayagam community through these wider initiatives.

Housing and economic assistance

Housing projects implemented for the Malayagam community with Indian assistance were also discussed.

Ceylon Workers’ Congress Member of Parliament Jeevan Thondaman said many families had received ownership of houses under the projects.

However, he said they continued to face difficulties in paying for essential services such as water and electricity.

President Dissanayake said proposals had already been made to introduce a new economic assistance programme jointly through the Thondaman Foundation and the Nevada Foundation.

He also said the Government intended to allocate more funds to the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure in the 2027 Budget than it received this year.

Northern Province land and housing issues

The President reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to resolving land-related issues in the Northern Province and the Central Highlands.

He said it was the Government’s policy that land should rightfully belong to the people.

Several measures, including the appointment of commissions, had already been taken to address these long-standing issues, he added.

President Dissanayake also announced that funds would be allocated through the 2027 and 2028 Budgets to build 13,000 houses in two phases.

The housing programme is intended to address the long-standing needs of people who lost their homes during the conflict.

Housing for cyclone-affected families

The President said the Government was also taking steps to provide permanent houses for families who lost their homes due to Cyclone Ditwah.

Construction of temporary shelters had already begun and affected families would continue to receive a rental allowance until their permanent houses were completed, he said.

Concerns over government institutions

The alliance representatives also raised difficulties faced by communities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

They said some of these difficulties were caused by outdated policies followed by institutions such as the Department of Archaeology, the Department of Forest Conservation and the Mahaweli Authority.

After listening to the matters raised, President Dissanayake thanked the representatives for forming a united alliance to discuss issues affecting Tamil-speaking communities.

He encouraged them to consider the issues within the wider public interest and to focus on shared national concerns without creating misunderstandings in society.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress, Ceylon Workers’ Congress, Democratic Tamil National Alliance, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and Tamil Progressive Alliance.

The All Ceylon Makkal Congress was represented by its Chairman M.S.S. Ameer Ali and Members of Parliament M.A.M. Tahir and N.P.M.M. Tahir.

The Ceylon Workers’ Congress was represented by Member of Parliament Jeevan Thondaman.

The Democratic Tamil National Alliance was represented by Selvam Adaikalanathan, Suresh Premachandran and Murugesu Chandrakumar.

The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi was represented by M.A. Sumanthiran and Member of Parliament Shanakiyan Rasamanickam.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress was represented by Members of Parliament Rauff Hakeem and Nizam Kariapper.

The Tamil Progressive Alliance was represented by V. Radhakrishnan and Bharat Arulsamy.