Lanka president vows to prevent ethnic war

AFP, COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena marked his first year in office Saturday with a pledge to introduce sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at preventing the island returning to ethnic war.
Sirisena told parliament he wanted a new statute to guarantee the country will not see a repeat of a bloody ethnic conflict that claimed over 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009.
“We need a constitution that suits the needs of the 21st century and make sure that all communities live in harmony,” Sirisena said, adding that he was ready to shed executive powers in favour of a strengthened parliament.
“The extremists in the (Sinhalese majority) south and the (minority Tamil) north have caused the loss of thousands of young lives,” Sirisena said. “We must ensure reconciliation and harmony so that we will never go back to war.”
However the president—seen as a unifying figure in the until recently conflict-torn island since taking over from strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse last year—acknowledged
the difficulty in crafting a constitution that would satisfy
both sides.

 

Lanka president vows to prevent ethnic war

AFP, COLOMBO: Sri Lankas President Maithripala Sirisena marked his first year in office Saturday with a pledge to introduce sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at preventing the island returning to ethnic war. Sirisena told parliament he wanted a new statute to guarantee the country will not see a repeat of a bloody ethnic conflict that claimed over 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009. We need a constitution that suits the needs of the 21st century and make sure that all communities live in harmony, Sirisena said, adding that he was ready to shed executive powers in favour of a strengthened parliament. The extremists in the (Sinhalese majority) south and the (minority Tamil) north have caused the loss of thousands of young lives, Sirisena said. We must ensure reconciliation and harmony so that we will never go back to war. However the presidentseen as a unifying figure in the until recently conflict-torn island since taking over from strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse last yearacknowledged the difficulty in crafting a constitution that would satisfy both sides.