Report on constitution proposals in Sri Lanka tabled

What is the news?

• Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe submitted a report on the proposals to draft Sri Lanka’s new Constitution at the Constitutional Assembly in Parliament.
• The move led to discussion in the Constitutional Assembly, help authorities draft a Constitution in Parliament in the coming months,
• Once debated in Parliament, the draft would have to be passed by a two-thirds majority in the House.

Political solution

• The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main grouping of minority Tamils of the north and east, was forefront of campaign for a new constitution that  pave way for a political solution to Sri Lanka.
• Enactment of a new Constitution will delegate  more powers to all provinces, including in the north and east, help them in power sharing and bring a rest to anarchy.

Background

• In Sri Lanka, the democratically elected government opted for a series of Majority policy measures because they desired Sinhala supremacy.
• This made the Sri Lankan Tamils feel alienated. As a result of this, the Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and began struggles for the recognition of Tamil as an official language.
• By the 1980s several political organisations were formed.
• They demanded for an independent Tamil Eelam (state) in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. All this soon turned into a Civil War, thereby, causing distress in the nation.