Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday announced that the country’s constitution needed to be changed to suit the present era for the development of the country.

Addressing a special session of parliament, Mr Sirisena said the draft constitution must fulfill the needs to eliminate poverty and achieve prosperity through economic development and strengthen unity among all ethnic religious groups.

Sirisena called for a constitution that was flexible to evolve with society and public stressing that the constitution “must be flexible and it must evolve to reflect the timely needs and the aspirations of the people and to be compatible with the changing cultures to suit the era.”

Mr Sirisena noted that the country had not made use of the opportunities created in 1970, 1977, after the Tsunami and following the post war period since 2010, to strengthen national reconciliation, reports Colombo Page.

Sirisena’s call for a new constitution came as Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinge announced the official formation of a constitutional assembly to deal with consulting stakeholders and  drafting the new constitution for Sri Lanka.

See also: TNA manifesto calls for constitutional change that accepts Tamil right to self-determination (25 Jul 2015)

Speaking on Al Jazeera, Sutharshan Sukumaran of the Tamil Guardian said though the government’s announcement was welcome, “conducive environment had to be created to allow for meaningful discussions around the constitution.”