Ranil assures full implementation of 13th Amendment

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has assured the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

The President said that the Chief Ministers in the North and the South have been demanding for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment.

“We are continuing those activities. In the next two years, we will continue this work systematically,” he said.

The President said this during his address at the National Thai Pongal Festival held at the Jaffna Durga Hall this afternoon (15).

President Wickremesinghe said that the Social Justice Commission will be established in order to build a country where everyone can live in harmony, by solving the problems of the people belonging to all sections of the population.

The President also stated that in order to build a country where all races coexist and achieve economic prosperity, everyone must return to the Sri Lankan identity established by the late D.S Senanayake 75 years ago.

The President said that a statement on the government?s steps toward reconciliation will be made public in February and that a meeting of party leaders will be convened next week to discuss the matter.

President Wickremesinghe also stated that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?s work will be accelerated in order to provide relief to the families of the disappeared.

“This country needs reconciliation. As well as 30 years of war and insurgency, our country has been divided by divisive, racist, sectarian and bankrupt politics,” he said.

The President said that he had also sought the opinion of the Army Commander on the establishment of the TRC.

“He said to fix it, and then we can answer the allegations. No one has any objection to this,” the President said.

He also said that he hopes to have a meeting with MPs representing the Tamil people in the hills.

The President said that the Tamil people of the hills are fully integrated into Sri Lanka’s society and given the same rights and privileges enjoyed by the Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim people. (Colombo Gazette)