New constitution falls far short of TNA's federal mandate - TELO

<p>The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), a constituent party of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), has said that it would not support current proposals for a new constitution as they fall far short of an acceptable solution for Tamils, recalling that the TNA was elected on a mandate to push for a federal solution.</p> <p>In a statement TELO said that the current proposals undermined Tamil demands for self-determination and would strengthen the Sinhala Buddhist majority community.</p> <p>TELO also objected to the proposed constitution’s emphasis on guaranteeing Buddhism’s foremost place.</p> <p>Senior TNA figures have been at the forefront of formulating and pushing for a new constitution in Sri Lanka which has led to accusations from some Sinhalese politicians, including Mahinda Rajapaksa, that Tamil politicians were leading the government to divide the country.</p> <p>However Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has vigorously denied claims that the constitution would introduce federalism or demote Buddhism from its foremost place in the state.</p> <p><a href="https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2019/01/22/fes57-lank…"><u>See more from PTI.</u></a></p>