Another FR petition seeks to block Presidential poll

A fundamental rights petition was filed before the Supreme Court yesterday, asserting that the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was not passed correctly. The petition, submitted by Attorney at Law Aruna Laksiri Unawatuna, seeks a ruling that holding the Presidential Election before putting the constitutional amendment to a referendum for approval would violate the constitution.

The petition argues that the 19th Amendment was not correctly passed and, therefore, holding the next Presidential Election before its approval by a referendum would be unconstitutional. The Election Commission of Sri Lanka and its members, the General Secretary of Parliament, and the Attorney General have been named as respondents.

The petitioner claims that through the 19th Amendment, Article 70 of the Constitution was amended to deprive the President of the power to dissolve an elected Parliament after one year has passed. Furthermore, the petitioner asserted that the amendment has not been approved by a referendum, despite a Supreme Court bench ruling that it should be.

The petition highlights that the amendment cannot be considered law, as it has not been approved by a referendum and the President has not signed it. Therefore, he said it is incorrect to continue accepting the 19th Amendment as law.

This is the second recent petition seeking to halt the upcoming Presidential Elections. Previously, entrepreneur C.D. Lenawa submitted a petition to the Supreme Court, seeking an interpretation of the current President’s constitutional tenure. Lenawa’s petition emphasised the need to clarify the exact duration of the President’s term and called for an interim order to delay the upcoming Presidential Election until this interpretation is provided. However, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court dismissed the petition seeking to postpone the upcoming Presidential Election.

Despite accusations of being the mastermind behind the petitions challenging the elections, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has distanced himself from these actions and reiterated his support for holding the Presidential Elections this year.