UPFA charges Government of unconstitutional additions to 19 A

Tuesday, 7 April 2015 01:19 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Jayashika Padmasiri The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) yesterday, while speaking about the 19th Amendment, accused the Government of illegally adding 12 more pages as amendments to the gazetted version of the 19 Amendment draft bill. Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva at a media conference yesterday said that everybody in the Opposition objected to this move by the Government at the party leaders meeting and requested that the 19th Amendment debate, which is scheduled to be held on 9 and 10 April, be cancelled. He said that depending on the Supreme Court decision the Speaker would talk to party leaders and arrive at a decision regarding the matter soon.

“We are not trying to delay the 19 Amendment in anyway. However, amending the country’s Constitution is not an easy task and is something which is very important that needs to be done correctly. However, by presenting 12 pages of amendments to the 19 Amendment after it had been gazetted, the Government has acted unconstitutionally and illegally, as through this move they have robbed the public of the right to study it and go to the Supreme Court if has any issues with the content of those 12 pages,” Silva pointed out. He added that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) had always been clear on its stance regarding the trimming of powers of the Executive Presidency and that they were for it. However, he said that this should be done in tandem with electoral reforms and the SLFP would only support the former with the latter and not separately. “We are willing to make amendments to the 19th Amendment draft bill and support it. But it should be implemented and be active along with electoral reforms. What is important right now is not to call for an election but to fulfill the promises given in President Sirisena’s election manifesto,” he said. Meanwhile, the UPFA National Organiser Susil Premajayantha, who was also present at the media conference, speaking about the National Executive Committee (NEC) said that it had not been appointed by the people and that the SLFP would not listen to or abide by any orders given by the NEC.

CBK and MR invited to SLFP May Day rally

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said that the party had invited current President Maithripala Sirisena and former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chandrika Kumaratunga to this year’s SLFP May Day rally. “We will have the May Day rally at Hyde Park. We have made arrangements for three groups of party supporters to march towards the ground from three routes. All organisers and trade unions have been informed about this year’s rally and through this year’s May Day celebrations we will try to give the message that we will make a United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government after the next election. “We have also invited current President Maithripala Sirisena and former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chandrika Kumaratunga to this rally and hope that all of them will accept our invitations,” Yapa said.

JHU accuses Ranil of violating Constitution

By Chamodi Gunawardana Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) General Secretary and Minister Champika Ranawaka yesterday claimed that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had violated the Constitution of the country and accused him of trying to create a dictatorial premiership. Addressing a media conference, he stated that Wickremesinghe and a group of conspirers who were backing him were trying to destroy the executive presidency by removing its powers and bestowing them on the prime minister to create a ‘dictatorial premiership’. “Ranil and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) are conspiring to abolish the executive presidency. They just want to make a powerless president and give the executive powers of the president to the

PM. Because of this, we believe the 19th Amendment will become a photocopy of 1972’s Amendment. The Government has no right to completely abolish the executive presidency without consulting the public. Ranil just wants to make a mess of this Constitution the same way he messed up the United National Party’s Constitution in 1995,” Ranawaka said. He added that Wickremesinghe had inserted new clauses into the Constitutional reforms that differed from the clauses included in the draft bill which was submitted to the Supreme Court. “Ranil can deceive the UNP, but he can’t deceive us and we won’t allow him to deceive the public either. Ranil should learn to respect the opinions of others and listen to others without just doing what he wants to do,” Ranawaka emphasised. He also pointed out that the 19th Amendment had missed some very important points. “The Election Commission has introduced 16 proposals on electoral reforms, but none of those suggestions have been taken into consideration in the 19th Amendment Draft Bill. Some parties such as the JVP are trying to stop those amendments because they are disadvantageous to the JVP at the election. However if this Amendment gets passed in Parliament, it should be implemented under a new Government, and not under the current one,” he said. Commenting on opinions currently prevailing against the JHU, Ranawaka said that the party did not believe in astrology and took political decisions based on statistics and numbers.