Cabinet passes 21st Amendment aimed at empowering Parliament
COLOMBO – Sri Lankan cabinet on Monday (21) passed the 21st Amendment to the Constitution aimed at empowering Parliament over the executive president and now it will be tabled in Parliament, a top minister has said.
The 21st Amendment is expected to annul the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives unfettered powers to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who abolished the 19th Amendment that strengthened Parliament.
“The 21 amendment was tabled and passed in cabinet today and will be tabled in @ParliamentLK soon. Like to thank @RW_UNP and @wijerajapakshe for pushing it through,” Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando tweeted.
The 21st Amendment aims, among other reforms, at barring dual citizens from contesting elections to hold public office.
A section of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party (SLPP) was opposed to bringing in the 21st Amendment without addressing the current economic crisis.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had batted for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, saying it will curb the president’s unlimited powers while enhancing the role of Parliament in governing the debt-ridden country, which is also facing an unprecedented political turmoil.
The powerful Rajapaksa family tightened their grip on power after their massive victory in the general elections in August 2020, which allowed them to amend the Constitution to restore presidential powers and install close family members in key positions.
Wickremesinghe was the main sponsor of the 19th Amendment in 2015 which empowered Parliament over the executive president.
The constitutional reform was a major plank of the agreement between Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe when he took over the job of prime minister on May 12. However, final draft of the Amendment has yet to be publicized.
Several parties have proposed different versions of a 21st Amendment, with at least one of them containing provisions to abolish the executive presidency in its entirety.
Presented as a private member’s bill by MP Rajapakshe prior to his being sworn in as Justice Minister, the original version of the draft amendment proposes, among other things, a constitutional council chaired by the speaker of Parliament and comprising the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and others.
-PTI/ENCL