President calls for consensus before constitutional reforms

Politics
By Editor_1
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in discussions with representatives of a six-party alliance of Tamil and Muslim political parties at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday (August 3, 2026), where discussions focused on constitutional reform, Provincial Council elections, land issues and development concerns affecting Tamil-speaking communities PMD

COLOMBO – President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Monday (3) his government remains committed to abolishing the Executive Presidency and introducing a new Constitution, but cautioned that building broad national consensus must take priority over a rushed constitutional amendment.

Dissanayake made the remarks during talks with a six-party alliance of Tamil and Muslim political parties at the Presidential Secretariat, where discussions ranged across constitutional reform, long-delayed Provincial Council elections, land disputes and development concerns affecting Tamil-speaking communities.

On Provincial Council elections, Dissanayake noted a Parliamentary Select Committee had already been appointed to examine issues around the conduct of the polls, and said the government would engage with the Committee before deciding on next steps.

The alliance pressed the administration on its manifesto pledge to introduce a new Constitution with Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) General Secretary M.A. Sumanthiran noting that constitutional reform should not be rushed, but must proceed through inclusive national dialogue addressing all communities’ concerns rather than being drafted unilaterally by a single party, as he said previous constitutions had been.

Dissanayake, elaborating on his call for consensus-building over speed, said his administration was working to build a country where citizens identify first as Sri Lankans rather than along ethnic lines, and reaffirmed his vision of a system of governance fully accountable to Parliament.

The talks also addressed living conditions for the Malayagam, or Hill Country Tamil, community. Dissanayake outlined a government plan to grant estate and plantation workers legal ownership of 10-perch residential land plots, using the renewal of plantation lease agreements, many due before 2042, as an opportunity to write ownership provisions into new leases.

Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) representative V. Radhakrishnan welcomed the proposal, saying he hoped the current administration would succeed where previous governments had failed amid opposition from plantation companies. Dissanayake said the government also plans to raise allocations to the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure in the 2027 Budget.

The president announced funding through the 2027 and 2028 Budgets to build 13,000 houses in two phases for families displaced during the conflict. He said permanent housing programmes were also underway for families affected by Cyclone Ditwah, with temporary shelters under construction and rental assistance continuing until permanent homes are completed.

On Indian-assisted housing projects for the Malayagam community, Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) MP Jeevan Thondaman said many beneficiaries who had already received houses still lacked reliable access to water and electricity. Dissanayake said the government was developing a new economic support programme for estate communities in partnership with the Thondaman Foundation and the Nevada Foundation.

Representatives also raised land disputes in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, including issues involving the Department of Archaeology, the Department of Forest Conservation and the Mahaweli Authority. Dissanayake reaffirmed his government’s commitment to resolving longstanding land issues, saying land should rightfully belong to the people, and noted several commissions had already been appointed to address the matter.

Closing the meeting, the president thanked the alliance for raising its concerns collectively and urged representatives to keep framing community issues within the broader national interest to promote unity and avoid social division.

The alliance included representatives of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), CWC, Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA), ITAK, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the TPA.

-ENCL

Editor_1
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