• MP writes to two leaders expressing concerns about certain clauses in Bill
• Says people’s mandate was not to go back to 18A position, but to correct shortcoming in 19A
• Requests them to heed advice of Buddhist, Catholic clergy and others who have reservations over Bill

SLPP Colombo District MP Premanath C. Dolawatte has written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, requesting them to reconsider certain clauses in the 20th Amendment to the Constitution before it is passed in Parliament. 

In the letter addressed to the two leaders, Dolawatte requested them to reconsider the clauses that remove the limit on the number of Cabinet Ministers, remove some state institutions for the oversight of the Auditor General and the introduction of Urgent Bills.

“It is true that two third of the people of this country gave a mandate to correct the shortcomings in the 19th Amendment to the constitution, but we have to realise that this is not a mandate to go back to the 18th Amendment which led to our defeat in 2015,” he said.

The SLPP MP also called on the President and the Prime Minister to pay heed to the sentiments of members of the Amarapura and Ramanna Maha Nikayas, other leading members of the Buddhist clergy who contributed to the victory of the government, the views of the members of the Catholic Clergy and others who have expressed reservations about some clauses in the Bill.

Dolawatte said that bringing amendments to the Bill should not be considered as a setback for the Government, but a victory for the wishes of the people of the country.

He also voiced strong opposition to getting support from parties such as the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) headed by MP Rishard Bathuideen to pass the Bill in Parliament.

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