Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella has said that the Government’s stance on the new constitution was to hold a referendum, with the support of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

He was addressing the house during Parliamentary sittings today.

The two main parties – the SLFP and the United National Party (UNP) are divided in opinion on sections of the proposed new constitution.

On January 3, the SLFP said it wanted to retain the Executive Presidency, despite party leader President Maithripala Sirisena’s election pledge he would abolish it.

UNP parliamentarian and Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera said this week that he too, was in support of a referendum on the new constitution.

The referendum on a new constitution is a risk worth taking, he told members of the Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) on Wednesday (8), as the passage of a new constitution is a key political priority of the unity government.