President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the Social Justice Commission will be established in order to build a country where everyone can live in harmony, by solving the problems of the people belonging to all sections of the population and that the government expects to fully implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

The President said this during his address at the National Thai Pongal Festival held at the Jaffna Durga Hall this afternoon (Jan. 15), the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

The President, who was escorted to the venue by a Tamil cultural procession, was received according to Hindu rituals. Many Tamil cultural performances added colour to the event, the PMD said.

President Wickremesinghe says that the government is looking at the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution within the next few years.

“We are looking at full implementation of the 13th amendment within the next few years,”“he said while attending the Thai Pongal State Festival in Jaffna.

In addition, the President stated that in order to build a country where all races coexist and achieve economic prosperity, everyone must return to the Sri Lankan identity established by the late Mr D.S. Senanayake 75 years ago.

The President stated that a statement on the government’s steps toward reconciliation will be made public in February and that a meeting of party leaders will be convened next week to discuss the matter, according to the PMD.

President Wickremesinghe also stated that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work will be accelerated in order to provide relief to the families of the disappeared, it said.

Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda, State Minister of Higher Education Dr Suren Raghavan, State Minister of Defence Pramitha Bandara Thennakone, Members of Parliament Angajan Ramanathan, Kulasingham Thilipan, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayake, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Governor of the Northern Province Jeevan Thyagaraja, Defence Ministry Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne (Rtd), Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva, as well as Commanders of three armed forces including heads of departments of defence and government officials, attended the ceremony, according to the PMD.