PRESIDENT CAN CONTEST FOR EVER

NO TERM LIMIT AT ALL


17TH AMENDMENT AMENDED
 
 
The draft of the proposed constitutional amendments will be presented to parliament during the coming parliamentary sessions in the second week of September. The proposed legislation allows the president to contest any number of times.


“Amendments will also be proposed for changes in the 17th amendment”, UPFA General Secretary Minister of Petroleum Industries Susil Premajayanth said.

“There will be no great structural changes to the constitution. The main areas of amendments will be the executive presidency and the 17th amendment to the constitution,” he said.

“Section 32 (2) of the constitution which deals with the limitations on the number of times a person can hold the executive presidency will be removed and the composition of the Constitutional Council will be changed”.

A five-member committee which consists of the speaker, the prime minister and the opposition leader as an alternative to the Constitutional Council is proposed, while the other two members will be nominated by the opposition and the president.

“The independent commissions will remain as they are and the selection of members to the commissions will be by the new committee. We will present this draft to parliament when it meets in September,” Premajayanth said.

Commenting on the five MPs of the left constituent parties of the government who have consistently opposed the extension of the executive presidency term limits and tampering with the 17th amendment, Premajayanth said that everyone in the government has been informed about the proposed changes.

“We all belong to the UPFA. We should adhere to one policy and everyone has agreed to support (the changes.)”

But politburo member of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka Jayampathy Wickremaratne told LAKBIMAnEWS that they have not shelved the objections to the executive presidency.

“We have been opposing the continuation and strengthening of the executive presidency and we have not changed that. The politburo of the Communist Party will meet next week and decide what course of action to take,” he said.

President Rajapaksa obtained the support of eight MPs of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) on Friday. The UPFA with these MPs command 154 votes in the 225-seat parliament, giving the president the two-thirds majority. The support of the SLMC MPs came as the government and the main opposition UNP were in discussions to amend the constitution and reduce the president’s executive powers. (news-Lakbima)