The Centre and Provinces/states shall exercise exclusive power in their areas of competence in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. It says: вЂњSri Lanka shall be a federal state within the framework of a united/undivided and indivisible country. The TNA proposal signed by MPs R Sampanthan and MA Sumanthiran demands that Sri Lanka should be a union of provinces/states. The JVPвЂ™s proposal signed by its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and MP Bimal Ratnayake has not included any suggestion pertaining to the unitary status of the country. In the Tamil language and the English language the word вЂunitaryвЂ™ shall be used and shall carry the interpretation of the word of the Sinhala language.вЂќ The Republic of Sri Lanka is a unitary state. Sri Lanka is a free, sovereign, independent and democratic socialist republic and shall be known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, 02. It says, вЂњArticles I and II of the constitution shall be maintained unchanged in their present form, i. The SLFP proposal signed by Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premajayantha and Dilan Perera, too, has opposed the proposal to abolish the unitary state.

вЂњThis is ample proof that this interim report has been drafted according to a separatist agenda, aimed at doing away with the unitary character of the state,вЂќ says the JO proposal signed by its parliamentary group and MEP leader Dinesh Gunwardena and MP Prasanna Ranatunga. The meaning of вЂOrumiththa naduвЂ™ carries the meaning вЂthe country that is formed by amalgamation.вЂ™ The meaning of вЂOrumiththa naduвЂ™ in Tamil is entirely different from the Sinhala term for вЂunitary stateвЂ™. вЂњWe object to the proposed English and Tamil terms. The Joint Opposition, however, has objected to the proposal to abolish unitary status of Sri Lanka and demanded that the Article 2 of the 1978 Constitution which states вЂthe Republic of Sri Lanka is a Unitary StateвЂ™ should be kept as it is. The Tamil language equivalent of this is вЂorumiththa nadu.вЂ™ In these circumstances, the following formulation may be considered: Sri Lanka is a free, sovereign and independent republic which is an aekeiya rajyaya/orumiththa nadu means a state which is undivided and indivisible, and in which the power to amend the constitution, or to repeal and replace the constitution, shall remain within the parliament and people of Sri Lanka as provided in this constitution.вЂќ The Sinhala term вЂaekiya raajyayaвЂ™ best describes an undivided and indivisible country. Therefore the English term вЂunitary stateвЂ™ will not be appropriate for Sri Lanka.

In the United Kingdom, it is now possible for Northern Ireland and Scotland to move away from the union.

The report says: вЂњThe classical definition of the English term вЂunitary stateвЂ™ has undergone change. The Steering Committee interim report submitted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the Constitutional Assembly yesterday states that people in the south are scared of the term, вЂfederalвЂ™ while the people in the North fear the word, вЂunitary.вЂ™ The Steering Committee, tasked with drafting a new constitution has raised the hackles of some of its members by proposing that the term, вЂunitary stateвЂ™ be done away with.

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