By

P.K.Balachandran

President Maithripala Sirisena’s own party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), in conjunction with the breakaway Joint Opposition Group (JOG) led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has stalled Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s move to change the country’s constitution.

On January 9, the JOG stopped parliament from debating and voting on Wickremesinghe’s resolution to change the constitution, saying that they needed to move amendments. To everyone’s surprise, when the resolution was taken up again on January 12, the SLFP, which is part of a coalition government headed by Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP), itself moved amendments. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) sought time to move its amendments, forcing the Speaker to put off the debate to January 26. This week, it was postponed indefinitely.

G.L.Peiris, the JOG’s spokesman on constitutional affairs, pointed out that the resolution read out by the Prime Minister on January 9, was not run through the cabinet. On January 12, top SLFP leader and cabinet Minister Susil Premajayantha, told parliament, that President Sirisena’s election manifesto had clearly said that he would not change any feature of the present constitution if it meant going in for a referendum. But the resolution read out by the Prime Minister said that referendum would be mandatory.

In his manifesto, Sirisena had not been categorical about totally abolishing the Executive Presidency. He had only said that he would aim at diluting its powers. In his scheme, the Presidency would be “allied to parliament through the cabinet.” He said he would take into account Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero’s demand for a total abolition of the Executive Presidency as well as Rathana Thero’s concept of a “constitutional alliance” between the President and Prime Minister.

Sirisena never said in his manifesto that he wants a totally new constitution. If he wanted a totally new one, he would not have set his face against a referendum. Therefore, the Prime Minister’s resolution urging parliament to draft an entirely new constitution has no popular mandate.

The SLFP and JOG support the pruning of the Executive Presidency, but are opposed to rewriting the constitution entirely. They are also against converting parliament into a “Constitutional Assembly”, disregarding the Standing Orders governing constitutional amendments and repeal.

Courtesy:New Indian Express