• Proposes changes including expanding Constitutional Council and letting only President decide on Ministers  

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa raising concerns about the 20th Amendment and expressing doubts about voting in its favour.

The letter, addressed to President Rajapaksa and copied to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that Rajapakshe was concerned about violating the pledge that he has taken as a Member of Parliament to protect the Constitution of Sri Lanka. He had also opined that the Government could have opted to simply remove the negative aspects of the 19th Amendment and retain its positive points rather than remove it completely. 

In the letter Rajapakshe called for the power to appoint Ministers to be given exclusively to the President, rather than to be done in conjunction with the views of the Prime Minister. He also proposed that instead of the Parliamentary Council, the Constitutional Council be expanded to include the President’s nominee and a nominee from minor parties to expand it to seven members. 

If any issues arose in the function of the independent commissions they could be resolved through discussions between the President and the Parliamentary Council.   

Dissent among SLPPers on 20A part of “democratic process”: G.L. Peiris