The Sri Lankan Supreme Court has opined that the changes proposed by the government to the Constitution were not inconsistent with the provisions of the existing Constitution and a referendum was not required on them.
The Parliament Speaker, Chamal Rajapaksa, made the announcement in the House on the view of the apex court even as the main opposition party — the United National Party (UNP) — made it known that its parliamentarians would boycott the debate and voting on the amendments scheduled for Wednesday. Mr. Rajapaksa had made a reference to the Supreme Court seeking its opinion.
The removal of the two-time bar on the President from contesting is among the key changes proposed to the Constitution. The changes also seek to replace the Constitutional Council, to make recommendations for appointment to high offices, with a parliamentary council.
Mr. Rajapaksa and the opposition are on a confrontation course over the proposed changes. While the ruling combine has claimed that the changes were meant to strengthen Parliament, the opposition has argued that they were aimed at consolidation of power of Mr. Rajapaksa.
Despite the decision of the opposition to stay away from the debate and vote on the constitutional changes, the government is assured of the required two-thirds majority in the 225- member Parliament thanks to cross over from the opposition benches in recent.
Besides the support of the eight-member Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the Rajapaksa government is banking on the support of several parliamentarians of the UNP. The UNP appears to have chosen to stay out of the House in the hope of preventing its members from openly siding with the government.
Since the government announced the introduction of the Amendment, so far five UNP MPs have expressed their support for the Bill. Any amendment to the Constitution is to be approved by two-thirds majority in the 225-member House.
