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Appointed by Malwatte Mahanayake : Committee to report on ongoing peace process

by Mallika Wanigasundara

The Most Ven. Rambukwelle Sri Vipassi thera, the Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter of the Siyam Nikaya has appointed a Committee of reputed and responsible legal and constitutional experts to report on a proposal suggested at the ongoing Peace talks between the Government and the LTTE, to introduce a Federal system of government for Sri Lanka.

The Constitutional Committee, a mixed group of Buddhists, Christians and a Muslim comprises five persons. They are: S.W. Walpita, retired judge of the Supreme Court; R.S. Wanasundara, former Attorney General and retired judge of the Supreme Court; Lucien de Alwis, retired judge of the Supreme court; Douglas Premaratne, PC, former Solicitor General and M.Z. Akbar, Attorney at law.

S.W. Walpita has been appointed Chairman of the Committee and R. Piyasena Dissanayake, Secretary of the National Joint Committee will be functioning as Secretary to the Committee. The Committee will start functioning soon.

The Committee will be assisted by a large Advisory Constitutional Council of political legal, constitutional, economic, social, sociological, educational, cultural, geographical and other experts numbering around twenty five, who will advise the committee. Several of the members are leading personalities in the legal and constitutional field.

The terms of reference of the Committee are as follows:

1. Background to the demand for a Federal system of governance 2. Does Sri Lanka have a Federal environment? 3. Political, social and economic implications arising from an application of Federal principles on the sovereignty, territorial integrity of Sri Lanka 4. Any viable alternative to a Federal system and 5. Conclusions and recommendations.

The Mahanayake thera of Malwatte, the Most Ven. Rambukwella Sri Vipassi, it will be recalled summoned R.S. Wanasundara and requested him to take the necessary steps to appoint such a Constitutional Committee and Council for this purpose.

At that meeting the following persons met the Mahanayake thera, S.W. Walpita, Douglas Premaratne, Ms Pushpamala Dharmasena, Cecil Dharmasena and Dr. Piyasena Dissanayake.

All persons interested in the future of Sri Lanka are requested to give evidence before the Committee or make written submissions which should be sent to the National Joint Committee Office, 3rd floor, YMBA building, Borella.

It was also announced that the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE too have decided to appoint a Committee for the same purpose of examining the proposal to set up a Federal system of government in the country.

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