COLOMBO — United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara defended his call for postponing Sri Lanka’s presidential election by two years, claiming his proposal was neither undemocratic nor unconstitutional.
Speaking to reporters at the UNP headquarters Monday (3), Bandara claimed neither opposition leader Sajith Premadasa nor National People’s Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake had spoken against his proposal.
“I have made no statement that’s undemocratic. My statement was in line with provisions of the Constitution,” the former UNP parliamentarian said.
He quoted Section 86 of Chapter XIII of the Constitution which states: “The President may, subject to the provisions of Article 85, submit to the People by Referendum any matter which in the opinion of the President is of national importance.”
Sections 87.1, and 87.2 also elaborate on the matter and describes the Parliament’s role, said Bandara.
“I spoke of a referendum and Parliament’s duty. Neither of these are antidemocratic nor unconstitutional. As per the constitution, priority should be given to ensuring people’s right to life,” he said.
“Some parties may be against what I proposed. They may criticize me. But what I ask them is to come to one position as political parties and make a statement on whether they’re ready to continue the ongoing economic programme,” he added.
Bandara claimed that, though there has been much criticism of his proposal for a postponement of the presidential election, President Wickremesinghe’s rivals Premadasa and Dissanayake have yet to remark on the matter.
“I suggested that [Premadasa] make this proposal in parliament and for [Dissanayake] to second it. But I don’t see that either Premadasa or Dissanayake opposed to it. To date, I have not seen nor heard either of them utter a word against this. I believe they have no objection to my proposal which was made for the betterment of the country,” he said.
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