The cabinet spokesperson for the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake who contested the presidential election on the promise not to grant police and land powers to provincial councils, has refrained from commenting on the government’s policy regarding devolution.
“Once the new government is in place, we will begin that work and address it,” he emphasized.
Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Vijitha Herath was fielding questions from the media at a press conference held at the Government Information Department on Tuesday (October 1) to announce decisions taken by the inaugural cabinet of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government.
He was responding to a question by a Tamil journalist on how the political grievances of the Tamil people would be addressed under the new government and what the government’s current stance is on the 13th Amendment.
Expanding on this, Minister Vijitha Herath stated that the manifesto presented by the National People’s Power (NPP) during the presidential election addressed the issue of resolving the national problem.
“The first issue is the presidential election that was held in the past. A president has been elected through that election. A parliamentary election is now being called to form the government, which will only occur after the completion of this parliamentary election. Therefore, our election manifesto clearly outlines the policy and work plan for addressing the national problem: to draft a new constitution, submit it to the people of this country, and obtain their approval through public opinion,” he added.
During the presidential election the NPP claimed that it will implement a new constitution drafted during 2015-19 under the leadership of the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
In response to a journalist’s question, the cabinet spokesperson stated that although the matter of political prisoners did not feature in the new president’s three-member cabinet discussions, the legal framework for their release will be addressed in the future.
He further said, “This is our position: political prisoners must be released. There is a legal framework for that. We are ready to obtain the necessary reports from the Ministry of Justice and move forward. Therefore, yesterday’s cabinet meeting focused on the main issues. Not all issues have been resolved, but in the future, especially with the new government process, we will definitely make a decision.”
The Minister did not make it clear how the Cabinet led by the President cannot be considered as the government when Parliament is dissolved.
