20th Amendment in Parliament

• Bill seeks to completely abolish Executive Presidency
•  If passed, bill will come in to effect in January 2020

The 20th amendment bill to the Constitution, to be presented by the JVP, will be debated in Parliament today.

The Bill, which the JVP will present as a Private Member bill, seeks to completely abolish the Executive Presidency – a key election promise of President Maithripala Sirisena during the 2015 Presidential Election.

If passed by Parliament, the Amendment would come into legal effect from 8 January 2020 onwards.

As this would be after the dissolution of the current 8th Parliament, the President, who will hold a nominal post, would be elected by Parliament and would not have control of the Government.

He would also be unable to hold a Ministerial portfolio and neither chair nor participate in the meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers.

In addition, he will also lose the power to prorogue Parliament.

The nominal president will, however, be able to make proposal to the Cabinet and be informed of Cabinet decisions.

While still remaining as the Head of State, the President would still have the power to appoint Governors as the provisions of the 13th amendment are not subject to change by the 20th amendment.

Conditional on Cabinet approval, the nominal President will also be able to appoint Ambassadors, High Commissioners and will retain the power to grant pardons.