Former Sri Lankan parliamentarian Gevindu Cumaratunga has called on the government to explain the objectives of its proposed new Constitution, questioning what Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya means by an “all-inclusive” constitutional framework and how it would address the causes of the country’s decades-long conflict.
According to local media, Cumaratunga, a former member of parliament representing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and a civil society activist, made the remarks in response to Amarasuriya’s comments during an interview with CNN journalist Richard Quest. The Prime Minister said Sri Lanka needed a new Constitution to address serious shortcomings in its existing supreme law and the underlying causes of the conflict, despite the war having ended in May 2009.
Amarasuriya referred to the 22 constitutional amendments enacted over the years and stressed that the country could not move forward without addressing the issues that had contributed to the conflict. She also highlighted the importance of transparency and accountability in the constitutional reform process.
Cumaratunga said he recognised the need for a new Constitution but argued that the government needed to clarify its direction and intended outcomes. He questioned whether the proposed reforms would adequately reflect Sri Lanka’s post-war circumstances and address concerns relating to language rights, provincial governance and the country’s constitutional structure.
Referring to developments before the final phase of the war, which began in August 2006, Cumaratunga said successive governments had attempted to address demands from Tamil-speaking political parties as well as armed groups. He cited the 13th Amendment, introduced in 1987 following the Indo-Lanka Accord, and the 16th Amendment, enacted in 1988, which recognised English as a link language.
The Indo-Lanka Accord, signed on 29 July 1987, provided for the establishment of a provincial council system. Cumaratunga argued that the political arrangements introduced under the agreement had failed to prevent renewed fighting, which he said erupted about ten weeks after the tripartite consensus.
He also criticised the constitutional provisions governing language use in the Northern and Eastern provinces, claiming that the 16th Amendment had deprived Sinhala speakers of their constitutional right to use Sinhala in the administrative districts concerned. These assertions formed part of his argument that the government should examine the consequences of earlier constitutional changes before undertaking further reforms.
Cumaratunga raised other concerns relating to education and provincial elections. He alleged that authorities had stopped publishing cut-off marks for the Grade Five Scholarship Examination in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar and Batticaloa, while Tamil-speaking students elsewhere in the country had not faced the same situation.
He also accused the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the United National Party, the Tamil National Alliance and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress of cooperating during the previous Yahapalana administration to postpone provincial council elections indefinitely. He claimed that the political parties involved feared an electoral victory by the SLPP. These allegations were attributed to Cumaratunga in the local media report.
The former MP said more than 6.9 million voters had supported Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidential campaign, which he said had promised a new Constitution reflecting the post-war situation. He also recalled assurances given by Vijitha Herath before the September 2024 presidential election that the country’s unitary status would remain intact, police and land powers under the 13th Amendment would not be fully implemented, and Buddhism would retain its foremost place under Article 9 of the Constitution.
Cumaratunga further referred to the unsuccessful constitutional reform initiative undertaken during the 2015–2019 Yahapalana administration and subsequent efforts under Rajapaksa. Amarasuriya’s CNN interview also addressed the war in West Asia, its economic implications for Sri Lanka and the National People’s Power government’s continued commitment to the International Monetary Fund programme agreed in 2023, despite the JVP’s earlier criticism of the lending agency.
