The chief incumbent of Bellanwila Rajamaha Vihara warned this week the new constitution will lead to a federal system if implemented, the Daily Mirror reported. 

"the Government could surreptitiously enact the new Constitution which would harm the entire country," Bellanwila Wimalarathana said. 

Sri Lanka's Bar Association of Lawyers on Monday expressed concern that the constitutional amendments currently being proposed will allow for a federal structure, the Daily Mirror reported. 

"The proposed amendments in the Interim Report of the Constitutional Assembly had the effect of converting the Unitary character of the State to a Federal structure," the BASL was quoted by the paper as saying. 

The BASL has posed a list of questions to the government, which include "Was there a need/requirement for a new Constitution?"; "Will Sri Lanka continue to be Unitary?"; and "What powers will be devolved to the Provinces?"

Sri Lanka's former commander of the security forces in Vanni, retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne said those supporting the new constitution were "traitors" and "must be killed", Colombo Telegraph reports. 

He made these marks at a meeting chaired by the former secretary of defence, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. 

"The government was trying to bring in the new Constitution on the requirement of the Western forces and Tamil Diaspora to please Tamil separatists," he reportedly added. 

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Jaffna University students have been boycotting classes since last Friday in solidarity with the hunger-striking Tamil political prisoners in Anuradhapura.

The health of three hunger-striking Tamil political prisoners has further deteriorated.

The three detainees of Anuradhapura prison have been hunger-striking for over 28 days, in opposition to the transfer of their cases from Vavuniya High Court to Anuradhapura.

All three were forcibly admitted to hospital by prison officials where they were placed on saline drips. However the three still refuse food.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff highlighted the insufficient progress made by Sri Lanka as he concluded his trip to the island, and said that delays in the implementation of transitional justice measures "raise questions in many quarters about the determination of the government to undertake a comprehensive transitional justice programme."

The construction of the Central Expressway has come to a halt in Kadawatha due to an ongoing delay in a US $1.1 billion loan from China's Exim Bank, the Sunday Times reported. 

“If we don’t receive the loan by February or March next year, we will have to look for other options,” the Road Development Authority (RDA) chairman Nihal Suriyaarachchi told the Sunday Times. 

confirming there was a delay in the loan, Sri Lanka's Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella told the paper, "We have taken up the matter with the Chinese Ambassador in Colombo and hope to expedite the loan through diplomatic channels.” 

The student unions of the University of Jaffna and of the Eastern University have demanded the release of Tamil political prisoners who have been detained for years without charge or trial under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

In a joint statement, the two unions expressed solidarity with the hunger-striking political prisoners at Anuradhapura prison and put forward several demands with a view to tackling the political prisoners issue.

Under demands requiring immediate action, the students called for the transferral of the hunger-strikers' cases from Anuradhapura court to either Vavuniya or Jaffna.

The former Secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said individuals pushing the new constitution were trying to fulfill the aims of "terrorists", Adaderana reported on Sunday. 

"The same politicians, who stated that terrorism could not be defeated by military means during the war, are now attempting to divide the country," Mr Rajapaksa told a gathering in Colombo. 

"Certain individuals are attempting to fulfill the ambitions of the terrorists through the proposed new constitution," he added. 
 

Sri Lanka's finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera told the IMF annual meeting in Washington, that the government had plans to widen its Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with India and Pakistan, as well as signing new agreements with Singapore and China.