The Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Saturday the new constitution will be drafted within the Sixth Amendment to the constitution which prohibits the establishment of a separate state.
"The country could not be divided and that no one had the slightest intention of diluting the unitary nature of the country through the new constitution", Mr Wickrememsinghe was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
"Some say the foremost place given to Buddhism and the unitary nature of the country are being diluted through the new constitution. No one wants to divide the country."
"Most of us including me are Buddhists, I am Sinhalese and I need to unite the whole country," he added.
"The draft will be passed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament. For those who speak of Buddhism losing its foremost place in the Constitution, I will make a special statement in Parliament. I ask the small parties not to politicize this issue."
“The new constitution will be based on the aspirations of the people," he said, adding that the 24 member committee would travel across the island to seek the views of the people and social media would be used to gather the views of the youth.
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