{"id":192661,"date":"2018-08-10T15:07:26","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T09:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=192661"},"modified":"2018-08-10T15:07:26","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T09:37:26","slug":"release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Release ‘Draft Zero’ Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Centre for Policy Alternatives<\/a> (CPA), noting that documents submitted to the Steering Committee tasked with pushing the constitutional reform process forward have been leaked, has called upon the government to release the so-called ‘Draft Zero’ since the leaking ‘has removed any reasonable justification based on confidentiality which has so far prevented the publication of this document.’<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

CPA Executive Director, Dr Saravanamuttu<\/p><\/div>\n

The following is the full statement released by the CPA on the matter:<\/p>\n

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) notes the media coverage surrounding a document described as \u2018Draft Zero\u2019 \u2013 evidently produced by some legal experts resourcing the Constitutional Assembly process \u2013 which is reported to have been submitted to the Steering Committee. According to reports, this document sets out a scheme for a new constitution based on the recommendations of the Sub-Committees of the Constitutional Assembly which reported in 2016, and the Steering Committee\u2019s Interim Report of 2017.<\/p>\n

While this document has not been made public by the Steering Committee, it is clear from the detailed critical commentaries on its contents that are appearing in the national media that the document has been leaked. We are thus in an extraordinary situation in which critics of constitutional reform are shaping the public debate on a future constitution, while proponents of reform as well as the general public remain in the dark about the proposals before the Steering Committee. This has removed any reasonable justification based on confidentiality which has so far prevented the publication of this document.<\/p>\n

It may be the case that the government\u2019s conduct of the reforms process, or lack thereof, has by now almost entirely squandered the political opportunity for a new constitution created by the landmark elections of 2015. But the government continues to owe a duty of basic candour to the public that twice mandated and entrusted it with the responsibility for constitutional reform in 2015. CPA accordingly demands that the document known as \u2018Draft Zero\u2019 be published forthwith. It is the least the government can do to demonstrate some respect for the goodwill and credulity of its citizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":180677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nRelease 'Draft Zero' Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Release 'Draft Zero' Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-10T09:37:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/\",\"name\":\"Release 'Draft Zero' Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-10T09:37:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":750},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Release ‘Draft Zero’ Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Release 'Draft Zero' Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Release 'Draft Zero' Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2018-08-10T09:37:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":750,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/","name":"Release 'Draft Zero' Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg","datePublished":"2018-08-10T09:37:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg","width":1000,"height":750},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/release-draft-zero-of-new-constitution-cpa-tells-government\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Release ‘Draft Zero’ Of New Constitution: CPA Tells Government"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Paikiasothy-Saravanamuttu.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192661"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192663,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192661\/revisions\/192663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}