Six-Member Expert Committee Appointed to Draft Proposals for New Constitution

13-Apr-2026

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Tamil national political parties have agreed to a proposal by the Tamil Lawyers Forum to appoint a six-member expert committee to prepare a document outlining the key principles that must be incorporated into a new Constitution to address the Tamil national question.

The proposed expert committee includes Senior President’s Counsel K. Kanagaiswaran, Prof. V.R. Thamilmaran, Prof. N. Selvakumaran, Attorney-at-Law K. Gurubaran, Dr. V. Sivakumar, and Prof. M. Sornarajah.

The first meeting organised by the Tamil Lawyers Forum to bring Tamil national political parties into a unified position on the ethnic issue and constitutional reform was held on March 2 in Colombo, with participation from ITAK, the Democratic Tamil National Alliance, and the Tamil National People’s Front.

A second meeting was held on April 9 at the Janaki Hotel in Colombo to continue discussions. ITAK was represented by General Secretary M.A. Sumanthiran and MPs S. Sridharan and R. Shanakiya. The Democratic Tamil National Alliance was represented by spokesperson Suresh Premachandran, MP Selvam Adaikkalanathan, and TELO Secretary-General Govindan Karunakaram. The Tamil National People’s Front was represented by Attorney-at-Law N. Kandipan, while the Tamil People’s National Alliance was represented by Manivannan and Parthipan.

During the meeting, participants discussed in detail the contents of a document prepared by the Tamil Lawyers Forum, which outlines key constitutional provisions required to resolve the Tamil national question. While accepting the document, party representatives proposed additional points for inclusion.

The document includes provisions supporting a federal framework, recognition of the Tamil people as a nation with the right to self-determination, clear and non-retractable definition of provincial powers, and recognition of Tamil as an official language with equal status.

It was also agreed to appoint the expert committee to prepare a final document based on the proposal.

Further, after lengthy discussion, it was decided to include four additional representatives, one nominated from each of the following parties: ITAK, the Democratic Tamil National Alliance, the Tamil National People’s Front, and the Tamil People’s National Alliance.

It was also highlighted that only Dr. Sivakumar currently represents the Eastern Province within the committee, and therefore a representative from the East should also be included. ITAK announced that it would nominate an individual from the Eastern Province.