He made these comments at the 8th conference of the SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians (ASSP) coinciding with the 70th anniversary of parliamentary democracy held yesterday (4th Oct.) at Hilton Hotel.
 

PM said that the report will be debated and talking to all stakeholders will take place while bargaining by political parties will go on as a consensus is needed.

PM Wickremesinghe said that all have agreed that the country cannot be divided while there will be maximum devolution.

This constitution is very much in line with the New Zealand system said the PM. He assured that nothing is finalized and parliamentarians have to realize that time is limited. For the first time we have seen agreement by all political parties, said the Prime Minister.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya delivering the welcome address said that parliamentary budget office will be established in the near future while a code of conduct for the members of parliament has been drafted and almost finalized with the intention of regulating the conduct of MPs in their capacity as representatives of the people.

Speaker Jayasuriya said that the government has taken steps to introduce many concepts of good governance and best practices to the parliamentary system during the last three years. It includes the passing of the 19th amendment to the constitution which established the Constitutional Council which is responsible for the appointment of members to nine independent commissions that contributes to empower the rule of law.

In addition, the Prime Ministers question time was initiated. The committee system was strengthened by the establishment of Sectoral Oversight Committees and a public Finance Committee. The chairs of committees are equally shared between the government and the opposition, said the speaker.   

The chairmanship of ASSP was handed over to Sri Lanka from Maldives at this event while a stamp and first day cover too was issued to mark the 8th conference of ASSP.