Ranil calls for interim Constitution

By Yohan Perera

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, stressed the need for a new Constitution and called for the setting up of an interim constitution until a new one is drafted.

Mr. Wickremesinghe made this call at a ceremony organized to commemorate the 97th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake, in Colombo yesterday.

He said a political solution to the national issue should be an integral part of the Constitution in order to bring peace to the nation and there should be a President who is responsible to Parliament. He also stressed the need for a small Cabinet based on traditional

Sri Lankan values. “This is also an essential need, as Parliament and the Cabinet have become a joke today,” he said.

The Opposition Leader explained that the late Mr. Dudley Senanayake had changed the UNP’s line of thinking and insisted that political and economic freedom should be the right of every citizen. He said this policy had been carried forward by his successors J. R. Jayewardene and R. Premadasa who had enshrined these policies in the Constitution.

He also explained that the vote base of the UNP was widened gradually by Mr. Senanayake and this had resulted in an increase in UNP votes from 751,000 in 1956 to 1.5 million in 1965 and then to 3.1 million in 1977, under Mr. J. R. Jayewardene. “It took such a long time for the UNP to build up its vote base,” he said. He added that the party had suffered setbacks -- in 1983, after the racial riots, and in 1991with the defection of Gamini Dissanayake and Lalith Athulathmudali. “But now the party is in a strong position,” he said.

Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara said Mr. Senanayake’s policies had been based on Buddhist principles and that was why he had the rare quality of gaining high positions and then resigning when moral considerations impelled him to do so. “This quality of his is an example for today’s politicians,” he said.

The Speaker also stressed that a leader should possess compassion as well as wisdom. “There is no point in possessing wisdom without compassion towards others,” he said.

Minister of Investment Promotion, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, said Mr. Senanayake’s economic policies which were based on agriculture were appropriate for today when the whole world was facing a severe food crisis. “The advice of the West does not suit us any more,” he said.

TNA Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan recalled how hard Mr. Senanayake had toiled to bring about a solution to the national issue and stressed the need for a political solution.

The ceremony brought together members of the UNP Democratic Group such as Hemakumara Nanayakakara and P. Dayaratne, current UNP members such as Johnston Fernando and Lakshman Kiriella and members of the old guard such as Dr. Ranjith Attapattu and Wijepala Mendis to pay tribute to Mr. Senanayake.