Govt looking to devolve power in new Constitution: Lanka PM Ranil Wickremsinghe

Colombo: Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe on Tuesday said the government will look to devolve power without damaging the united nature of the country in the new Constitution to be formulated by next year.

"We will look to devolve power without damaging the unitary and united nature of the country," Wickremesinghe said addressing a workshop here.

"We will also look at decentralisation of power in addition to devolution," he said adding that the whole parliament would be converted into a Constitutional Assembly.

"The Constitutional Assembly will report back to parliament and we are hoping to have the new Constitution ready by 2017 when the 70th anniversary of parliament falls," Wickremesinghe said.

The new Constitution will replace the current executive president headed constitution adopted in 1978.

The parliament had earlier this month unanimously approved a resolution for setting up a Constitutional Assembly to formulate a new Constitution.

The government also expects the new Constitution to address the demand of Tamil minorities for political recognition.

With the defeat of the The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009 the Tamil groups have opted for maximum devolution as opposed to LTTE's goal of a separate Tamil homeland.

With the current parliament adopting a resolution, the Constitutional Assembly process will get underway on April 5.

All political parties will join the process.