Sri Lanka former speaker calls for abolition of executive presidency
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s former speaker Karu Jayasuriya has reiterated a call for abolishing the all-powerful executive presidency, expressing his hope that candidates for the upcoming presidential election will pledge to do so.
Speaking at an event on Tuesday (2), Jayasuriya said attempts by past leaders and governments to do away with the presidency were scuttled by various actors for political reasons.
The former speaker, who was once deputy leader of the United National Party (UNP), also discussed the importance of abolishing the executive presidency to resolve Sri Lanka’s decades-long ethnic issue.
“As long as there is no trust between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, we cannot advance as a country. The national question cannot be solved through politics alone, because there will be various resistive influences,” he said.
Recalling then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s bid to abolish the executive presidency and roll out a new constitution in 2000, he said it was a valuable proposal but could not be taken forward due to political reasons.
It was, in fact, the UNP, the main opposition party at the time, that opposed Kumaratunga’s move, going so far as to burn a copy of the draft constitution in Parliament.
“During the [UNP-led] Yahapalana government days, attempts were made to establish a new constitution and work according to that. That too was unsuccessful due to narrow political and racist views,” Jayasuriya said.
He also noted that there had been several media reports quoting the clergy, who had said the current situation cannot continue, and the problem must not be transferred to the next generation, and that everybody’s support was needed to resolve it.
“We have seen how this country suffered from racism and extremism. We need everyone’s support to prevent this country from being destroyed by the flames of racism and religious extremism and take it forward to a new era,” he said.
Jayasuriya heads the National Movement for Social Justice, which he said continues to stand for the abolition of the executive presidency.
“We hope all candidates for the next election will make this promise to the people,” he said.
-economynext.com
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