Opp. Leader says 20A destroys checks and balances

Saturday, 24 October 2020 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Says those who protested against Executive Presidency have forgotten the past
Insists amendment not for betterment of people but personal gains

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said that the 20th Amendment (20A) to the Constitution destroys the checks and balance that had been introduced by the 19th Amendment (19A).

“When a single person has the power to make all appointments to high office, it destroys the checks and balances that have been put in place. Those who protested against the Executive Presidency have forgotten the past,” he said during the debate on the 20th Amendment on Thursday. Premadasa questioned why it was that the Government feared the mechanism introduced under 19A to bring about a just society.

“There seems to be a struggle for power between the President and the Prime Minister. But what is correct is to bring checks and balances between the two offices.”

The Opposition Leader said that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as “the government of the people, by the people, for the people,” which means it is a social contract between the public and the rulers. He then cited French judge and political philosopher Montesquieu, who had argued that the tripartite system should be practiced maintaining checks and balances between the executive, legislative, and judicial functions of government in order to prevent one organ of the government infringing the others.

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, Premadasa pressed, was not for the betterment of the public. He then went on to add: “What we urgently need is to set up a National Security Council and a new Health Act. The death penalty should also be brought and enforced against those who engage in terrorist activities and those who engage in drug trafficking. That is the stance of the SJB.”