Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe assured his parliament that any new constitution for the island will continue to grant Buddhism “first and foremost” place, pledging that amendments would not be implemented.
Responding to claims from the opposition that there have been attempts to scrap Article 9 of the Sri Lankan constitution – the clause that grants Buddhism primacy on the island – Mr Wickremesinghe said that the steering committee which he heads would not allow such a change to take place.
"The steering committee has not come up with any draft,” he stated. “I will not allow the amendment of Article 9 as long as I remain as the chairman of the steering committee."
Leader of the Joint Opposition in Parliament, Dinesh Gunawardena, continued to voice his concern, stating that there had been efforts to scrap the article. “How can the Cabinet Spokesman state that the Maha Nayake's need not worry when this is the reality of the situation?," he told parliament.
However, Mr Wickremesinghe went on to reassure joint opposition members, that no draft of a new constitution had been released.
See more from the Daily Mirror here, Ceylon Today here, Daily News here and The Island here.
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