Main opposition SJB to conditionally support 22nd Amendment to Constitution
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s main opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), will support the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution provided that no underhand revisions are sneaked in at the committee stage, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said.
Premadasa told Parliament on Thursday (20) the party will vote for the amendment bill in good faith on the condition that no attempt is made to revise the bill’s prohibition on dual citizens entering Parliament. Nor should there be any attempt to change the president’s power to dissolve Parliament in two and a half years.
The SJB also retains the right to present an amendment aimed at curbing presidential powers, Premadasa said.
On these conditions, the SJB and other opposition groups allied to it will support the 22nd Amendment, he said, adding that though it is not the broadest reform that’s sought by the party, the SJB is ready to be flexible in the interest of the country.
Premadasa also noted that Western nations’ assistance to Sri Lanka to handle its currency crisis was contingent upon political reform.
He told Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe that, if any attempt was made to make revisions to the bill at the committee stage – particularly with regard to the clause on dual citizens – the SJB will not hesitate to oppose it.
Rajapakshe told reporters on Monday (17) that only 150 votes were need for the amendment to be passed in parliament and a majority of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) support the existing draft of the amendment.
Media reports quoting SLPP secretary general Sagara Kariyawasam said over last weekend that the party is insistent on the removal of the dual citizenship clause.
Justice Minister Rajapakshe said on Monday the SLPP was divided on the matter.
“Most of its members want to bring this 22nd Amendment, but there is a group – I don’t know the exact number – who are highly concerned about the dual citizenship [clause],” he said.
The minister said the government has decided not to make any further revisions to the amendment bill and will go ahead with the existing draft as it is.
“I think the majority is with the existing draft,” he said.
The bill is being debated in parliament on Thursday and Friday (21).
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