Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday dismissed the Northern Provincial Council chief minister's call for a federal solution.
"Anyone is free to air their views but the Constitution making process is the work of parliament," he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
“It is the constitutional assembly and the steering committee which decides on the constitution and not the chief minister. There may be some who would oppose the proposals of the steering committee report and some who would welcome it. Therefore let’s get on with our duty,” Mr Wickremesinghe said, responding to a question by the joint opposition member, Dinesh Gunawardene.
“I arrived in the country last morning. I have been asked about a statement made by Chief Minister Wigneswaran. I have also seen some news items when I was in India that he had denied the statement issued by the media,” he was quoted by Colombo Page as saying.
“Let’s do it the way we want, some people may make statements. Even others have made statements in addition to the Chief Minister. It is better if everyone refrains from making statements," he added.