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Seventeenth Amendment a great leap forward - SLFP

The passing of the 17th amendment to the Constitution by consensus of the three main parties is a great leap forward akin to the leap mankind made with Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, says the Information and Publicity Unit of the SLFP, in a press release issued yesterday under the signature of its Media spokesman Mangala Samaraweera MP.

The SLFP Information and Publicity Unit also calls upon the UNP to sincerely join the government peace effort leaving aside political differences.

Though an amendment to the Constitution would have been an ordinary day-to-day matter during the time of the UNP regime, which amended it 16 times, the significance of the 17th amendment cannot be belittled, says the release.

"The 17th amendment differs from the previous ones in that it was a historic act that gave a legislative form to a set of principles that were promoted for a long time not only by the PA but also by the UNP, the JVP and a number of mass organizations. The PA Government has displayed political maturity by obtaining the consent of other political parties for the amendment," added the release.

The release further said:

"The Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga Government, which came into power in 1994 was able to restore democracy in the country. Though the Government introduced a new Constitution in Parliament on August 3, 2000, that included provisions for the establishment of certain Commissions that are envisaged in the 17th amendment, it received from the Opposition, ridicule instead of cooperation. Though the Government did much to establish a free environment in the country, the lack of a two-thirds majority in Parliament was a great obstacle that prevented legislation instituting certain democratic reforms.

"The President has repeatedly pointed out the necessity of a general consensus among all parties to solve the basic problems of the people. With the recent PA-JVP accord, there are signs that her dream of building the country is bearing fruit. Though an effort was made to reach consensus with the UNP it was thwarted by conspiracies of reaction.

"The President, the Prime Minister, the PA Parliamentary Group and the JVP leadership deserve the appreciation of the people for the historic political change that has taken place now. We should also appreciate the positive contribution made by the JVP to reach this broad consensus.

"The Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe also deserves credit for the historic political step taken on Monday. All those who value democracy should appreciate the political leadership given by him since even during the debate the contributions made by certain UNP MPs displayed the attempts of reaction to sabotage this popular achievement.

"The consensus reached among the three main parties on Monday should be carried forward for the benefit of the people. Among the important tasks before us are electoral reforms and the abolition of the Executive Presidency. As agreed upon in the PA -JVP accord we should bring to book the speculators who are defaulting large scale loan payments in State banks and write off cultivation loans of farmers. The progressive people of the country like to see the UNP cooperating in these matters too that require a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

"Though these democratic reforms would become a reality soon, democratic freedom and economic development of the country would rest on establishing real peace in the country. Ever since the inception of the PA Government, the President has been appealing to all people to join hands for peace. It is a pleasure to note that today after seven years, the Business Community and progressive mass organizations are aligned for peace.

"Hence, a program to establish real peace in the country should receive top priority in our political agenda. We should pressurize the LTTE to bring it to the negotiating table. We should all unite, irrespective of political party differences to achieve victory of the clear-cut policy program initiated by the President to end the war and bring in peace. At this juncture, we most respectfully call upon the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP to sincerely join the Government peace effort. We also wish him the courage and strength to defeat chauvinists and sectarian groups within the UNP".

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