Parliament goes agog over 19th Amendment validity

• GL, Ven. Athuraliye breathe fire; JVP’s Anura Kumara exposes double standards of some MPs

By Ashwin Hemmathagama Our Lobby Correspondent Lawmakers yesterday argued in Parliament over the validly of the 19th Amendment, “The Bill is in conformity with Article 82 (1) and as per 82 (5) requires a special majority of votes to be passed. According to Article 11 and sub-articles 42 (iii), 43 (i), 43 (iii), 44 (ii), 44 (iii), 44 (iv) and Article 26 and Article 83 a referendum is required,” said Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed the House that the articles, which require a referendum, would be removed during the Committee stage. This would nullify the need to get public opinion he said, adding: “We expect to pass this Bill, which will be limited to articles that need a two-thirds majority in the House to pass.” Claiming that he had failed to find a reliable 19th Amendment Bill as a complete document, MP Prof. G.L. Peiris criticised the Government for depriving the public of its rights. “The Supreme Court has concerns over Article 11, which describes the powers of the President and the Prime Minister. Looking back, the Government furnished us with a document with details on the new powers of the President and Prime Minister, which was criticised by political parties. Therefore, the Prime Minister tabled an amended Bill on 24 March. On par with Article 121 (1) of our Constitution seven days have to pass and be included in the Order Paper allowing the public to petition the Supreme Court. “This period of seven days expired on 31 March. Then on 1 April the Supreme Court commenced hearing these petitions. There were 19 petitions altogether and they were based on the document the Prime Minister tabled in this House. But another document of 12 pages was submitted to the Supreme Court by the Attorney General during the hearing. We have deprived the public of the chance to submit their petitions. Once this 19th Amendment is enacted, it cannot be challenged. In Sri Lanka, we have a system to pre-challenge but not post-challenge. We should follow a system which will not be challenged in the future,” said Prof. Peiris, who proposed a new gazette which would include all the suggestions made later. JHU MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero accused the Government of not making available the Sinhala and Tamil copies of the 19th Amendment. “We see the Prime Minister increasing his powers. Not only the Opposition but even some of the UNP lawmakers are in the dark on the contents. We need to move on with this Bill and finish it soon,” said Ven. Rathanathero. Expressing his views, Minister of Urban Development, Water Supply and Drainage Rauf Hakeem turned down the request to gazette the 19th Amendment Bill and start the process again. “It is a filibustering exercise to amalgamate all changes and to gazette the 19th Amendment. I was there in the Supreme Court when this was taken up. At the initial stage, the Attorney General indicated to court that certain amendments were required, which was allowed. It will be virtually giving a second bite of the cherry if we are to allow this exercise of once again gazetting a Bill, which was subject to examination by court. It is a superficial and futile exercise. Such things have never happened before,” said Minister Hakeem. Joining the debate JVP MP Anura Dissanayake said the double standards of some of the lawmakers, who allowed the creation of a dictatorship by scrapping the 17th Amendment to the Constitution and the abolition of independent commissions, was being exposed. “You passed the 18th Amendment which was brought to this House as an urgent Bill. The Divinaguma Bill was different from what was tabled in this House and what was submitted to Supreme Court. So we have failed to protect democratic channels and rules. Not only the 19th Amendment but our 1978 Constitution is a collection of amendments. We don’t think the 19th Amendment will fullfill our expectations but compared to what we have it will be a step towards democracy. A step which should not be destroyed,” said MP Dissanayake.