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19A: Key changes necessary but consensus on several provisions – SLPP lawmaker

Published

6 years ago

2020/09/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

‘We received two mandates to enact a new Constitution’

By Shamindra Ferdinando

SLPP National List member Gevindu Cumaratunga strongly pushed for a new Constitution instead of bringing in the 20th Amendment in place of 19th Amendment enacted at the onset of UNP-SLFP administration in 2015.

Addressing a media briefing at the Sri Sambuddajayanthi Viharaya and meeting organized in Kandy also on Sunday (30), Cumaratunga emphasized that Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the SLPP received overwhelming mandate at the 2019 presidential and 2020 general election, respectively, to enact a new Constitution.

The leader of civil society group Yuthukama dealt with the 13th, 16th and the 19th Amendments as well as the Proportional Representation (PR) system introduced by the then President JR Jayewardene. In addition to one NL slot, Yuthukama Kalutara district candidate Anupa Pasquel entered parliament.

The ideal solution would be to either abolish/do away with inimical provisions in those amendments, Cumaratunga said, underscoring the responsibility on their part to realize the mandates received at the presidential and parliamentary polls.

Cumaratunga said that the 13th Amendment undermined the country’s unitary status whereas the 16th imposed restrictions on the use of Sinhala language in the North and East and the 19th caused anarchy. Therefore, tangible measures should be taken to abolish/amendment/rectify shortcomings without further delay, he said.

Cumaratunga pointed out how the National Joint Committee (NJC), in a statement issued recently explained the need to address all problematic matters without focusing only on the 19th Amendment. Referring to a statement issued by the Buddasasana Karyasadaka Mandalaya on August 25, 2020, Cumaratunga emphasized that the 19th Amendment wasn’t the only cause for continuing political turmoil and instability.

Therefore, the government should seriously look into concerns expressed by those who really believed in a total constitutional overhaul, Cumaratunga said. The civil society activist acknowledged that an influential section of the government pushed for the 20th Amendment in place of 19th Amendment as enactment of a new Constitution would take time. Cumaratunga said that those who preferred the 20th instead of the 19th Amendment were of the view a new Constitution couldn’t be enacted without public consultations.

Lawmaker Cumaratunga questioned the need to engage in fresh public consultations as the previous government conducted quite large scale countrywide operation in that regard. The procedure included a comprehensive report put out by the Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms and the parliamentary process spearheaded by Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly.

The first meeting of the Constitutional Assembly took place on April 5, 2016.

The Yuthukama leader said that the high profile constitutional reforms process that had been undertaken by the previous government was in the public domain. Those who had campaigned for that constitutional reforms process were routed thrice at the 2018 Feb Local Government poll, 2019 Nov presidential and 2020 August general election, Cumuratunga said.

Now that the SLPP had secured a near two-thirds majority and the required support could be obtained from friendly political parties, the government could go for a referendum. Such a course of action would allow the government to achieve its objective without having to go before the Supreme Court.

Cumaratunga said that consensus could be reached on some provisions in the 19th Amendment. Pointing out that the SLPP government was agreeable to the two term limit on an executive president and the restriction of presidential term to a five-year period, Cumaratunga said that Yuthukama, too, believed those provisions should be retained.

Far reaching change required pertaining to the 19th Amendment was the provision that deprived the elected President to hold ministerial portfolios, MP Cumaratunga said. Emphasizing that Article 4 where the sovereignty of the people was dealt with, specified as follows in Sub Article 4b: “The executive power of the People, including the defence of Sri Lanka, shall be exercised by the President of the Republic elected by the People,” Cumaratunga said all obstacles should cleared for the President to take over the defence portfolio.

Lawmaker Cumaratunga said that it would be better to specify that the President should hold the defence portfolio.

MP Cumaratunga said that the provision that denied the President the right to dissolve parliament one year after the general election, too, should be amended. In terms of the 19th Amendment, the President received the right to dissolve parliament only after the House completed four and half years.

The former government amended the provision that dealt with the President’s power to dissolve parliament in spite of the Supreme Court previously ruling that such a change should be subjected to a referendum, Cumaratunga said. The civil society activist pointed out how President Sirisena struggled to cope up with treasury bond scams allegedly perpetrated by the UNP as he lacked the constitutional power to intervene.

Commenting on the provision that deprived anyone below the age of 35 contesting the presidency, Cumaratunga said that the particular stipulation should be retained. The MP said that he didn’t see any reason why a person at such a young age should contest the presidency.

Cumaratunga also discussed the continuing controversy over amending the constitutional provision that prevented dual citizens from seeking public office. The National List MP said that he would like to discuss the matter taking into consideration Basil Rajapaksa’s dual citizenship (US and Sri Lanka), former Central Bank Governor and now fugitive Singaporean Arjuna Mahendran and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa giving up his US citizenship to be eligible to contest 2019 presidential election.

Lawmaker Cumaratunga said that having left the country soon after the 2015 change of government Basil Rajapaksa could have stayed in the US. Instead, the former SLFP National Organizer returned in April 2015 after the then government initiated investigations, Cumaratunga said. The police arrested and remanded him and he underwent hardship but remained committed for a political role, the MP said. If all dual citizens were prepared to face investigations the way Basil Rajapaksa did, there was no need for the provision to prevent dual citizens from holding public office, Cumaratunga said.

However, Arjuna Mahendran fleeing the country was evidence that dual citizens/foreign citizens shouldn’t be accommodated unless they accepted sole Sri Lankan citizenship, he said.

Cumaratunga said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had set an example by giving up his US citizenship to serve the country. The lawmaker said that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the wartime Defence Secretary played a significant role while being a US citizen.

The MP said that the stipulation that the President and members of parliament should only be Sri Lankans could be extended to other higher level categories.

Lawmaker Cumaratunga declared his firm support to the Independent Commissions while calling for proper procedures to be followed in making appointments to Independent Commissions. Pointing out that the previous government blundered by accommodating TNA leader R. Sampanthan as the Opposition Leader to enable him to sit in the Constitutional Council, Cumaratunga alleged that was done to manipulate the process.

Of the 10 member Constitutional Council, five are appointed in agreement between the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader.

If the Joint Opposition was given the Opposition Leader’s Post, the whole process wouldn’t have gone awry, Cumaratunga said.

He said that Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa could choose five persons to ensure the proper functioning of the Constitutional Council. The MP said that the need was to rectify the Constitutional Council and the Commissions not to abolish them. Cumaratunga proposed that the President could choose from persons recommended by the Constitutional Council. The President should also receive the constitutional authority to remove those appointed, the MP said.

Cumaratunga said that the SLPP should be sensitive to the sentiments of those who brought the party to power. The lawmaker warned that political parties and the government could no longer continue as if public sentiments didn’t matter. “Look at what happened to the UNP. The UNP was reduced from 107 to 55 (SJB 54 + UNP 1), TNA 16 to 10 and the JVP 6 to 3,” Cumaratunga said, adding that those treacherous civil society elements were taught an unforgettable lesson.

Quoting statements issued by the Buddasasana Karyasadaka Mandalaya as well as the NJC, MP Cumaratunga strongly suggested that much delayed Provincial Council elections shouldn’t be held as the very basis of the system undermined the country’s unitary status or in other words was contrary to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ‘One Country, One Law’ concept.

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Israel resumes attacks as Iran vows to avenge supreme leader’s death

Published

18 hours ago

2026/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

An explosion caused by an Iranian missile in Tel Aviv

* Iran begins 40-day mourning after Khamenei killed in US-Israeli attack

* President Pezeshkian condemns killing as ‘a great crime’

Iran has begun 40 days of mourning after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in ongoing attacks by the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media.

Top security officials were also killed in Saturday’s strikes, along with Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson. The killings mark one of the most significant blows to Iran’s leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution Al Jazeera has reported.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killing as “a great crime”, according to a statement from his office. He also declared seven days of public holidays in addition to the 40-day mourning period.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said people were pouring into the streets of the capital following the news of Khamenei’s killing.

“There will be expected ceremonies,” he said, noting they would likely take place amid continuing bombardment across the country.

Protests denouncing Khamenei’s killing were also reported elsewhere, including Shiraz, Yasuj and Lorestan.

“There will be expected ceremonies,” he said, noting they would likely take place amid continuing bombardment across the country.

Footage aired by Iranian state media showed supporters mourning at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, with several people seen crying and collapsing in grief, according to Al Jazeera.

The killing also led to protests in neighbouring Iraq, which declared three days of public mourning. In Baghdad, protesters confronted security forces in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies.

Videos verified by Al Jazeera showed demonstrators waving flags and shouting slogans, with witnesses saying some were attempting to mobilise towards the US Embassy. Footage also showed protesters blocking vehicles at a roundabout near one of the entrances to the area.

There was also a protest in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where footage, verified by Al Jazeera, showed people setting fire to and smashing the windows of the US consulate.

However, there have also been reports of celebrations in Iran, with the Reuters news agency quoting witnesses as saying some people had taken to the streets in Tehran, the nearby city of Karaj and the central city of Isfahan.

Meanwhile, the official IRNA news agency reported that a three-person council, consisting of the country’s president, the chief of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council, will temporarily assume all leadership duties in the country. The body will temporarily oversee the country until a new supreme leader is elected.

Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused the US and Israel of trying to plunder Iran, in an interview aired on state TV.

He also called on Iranians to unite. “Groups seeking to divide Iran should know that we will not tolerate it,” he added.

Smoke rises over central Tehran following ongoing U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran yesterday.[EPA]

Khamenei assumed leadership of Iran in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had led the Islamic revolution a decade earlier.

While Khomeini was regarded as the ideological force behind the revolution that ended the Pahlavi monarchy, Khamenei went on to shape Iran’s military and paramilitary apparatus, strengthening both its domestic control and its regional influence.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pledged revenge and said it had launched strikes on 27 bases hosting US troops in the region, as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv.

Explosions have continued to be reported in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while security alerts are in place in several countries across the region.

US President Donald Trump, in a social media post on Sunday, warned Iran that it would be hit “with a force that has ?never been seen before” if it retaliated.

Iran’s retaliatory attacks since Saturday have targeted Israel and US assets across multiple Middle East countries, including Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Harlan Ullman, chairman of the strategic advisory firm Killowen Group and an adviser to the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, said the US may have made a “big mistake” by killing Khamenei.

“Decapitation only works when you get all the leaders, and I don’t think that we got all the leaders,” Ullman said, adding that the US should not expect Iran’s leadership to enter negotiations in the immediate aftermath.

Iranian state media reported on Saturday at least 201 people have been killed in the joint US-Israeli attacks across 24 provinces, citing the Red Crescent. In southern Iran, at least 148 people were killed and 95 wounded in a strike on an elementary girls’ school in Minab on Saturday, with the toll continuing to rise, according to state media.

News

CPC has enough fuel stocks

Published

18 hours ago

2026/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

There would be no delay in fuel shipments scheduled for April and May, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) assured yesterday.

Addressing a media briefing in Colombo, CPC Chairman D.J. Rajakaruna said Sri Lanka’s fuel supplies did not originate from the present conflict zone in West Asia and, therefore, supplies to the Corporation would not be disrupted.

He noted that the relevant consignments were due to arrive from India and Singapore as planned.

“We are making this statement responsibly. There is no need for the public to queue up for fuel. Distribution was not originally scheduled for Sunday (01), but due to increased demand, we have deployed all distribution staff to continue fuel issuance. Although Monday (02) is a Poya Day, fuel supplies will continue without interruption,” he said.

The Chairman added that all filling stations had been instructed not to dispense fuel into cans or barrels, warning that legal action would be taken against those attempting to purchase fuel in bulk containers for resale.

News

Lanka, Pakistan strengthen ties at 13th JEC

Published

18 hours ago

2026/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wasantha Samarasinghe, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development and Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for Industries and Production at the 13th Session of the Sri Lanka–Pakistan Joint Economic Commission in Colombo.

The 13th Session of the Sri Lanka–Pakistan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) was successfully held recently in Colombo, reinforcing the strong and longstanding economic and diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The Sri Lankan delegation was led by Wasantha Samarasinghe, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, while the Pakistani delegation was headed by Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for Industries and Production. The session concluded with the signing of the Agreed Minutes by both Co-Chairs, formalising cooperation across multiple sectors.

The Pakistan High Commission in Colombo said that in the IT and digital economy, both sides agreed in principle to establish a Joint Working Group on IT and telecommunications, promote collaboration in emerging technologies, and support each other in international digital forums.

Industrial cooperation was a key focus, with discussions on expanding trade in chemicals, polymers, engineering goods, glassware, surgical instruments, and pharmaceuticals. Sri Lanka invited Pakistani pharmaceutical companies to explore investment opportunities in designated pharmaceutical zones. Both countries also agreed to strengthen collaboration in Export Processing Zones and enhance support for small and medium enterprises through their respective development agencies.

Significant progress was made in agriculture and livestock, including cooperation on meat exports, livestock farming, seed certification, sanitary and phytosanitary harmonisation, pest risk analysis, and capacity building. Procedures for the export of Sri Lankan pineapples and avocados to Pakistan were advanced. Both sides explored electronic phytosanitary certification (ePhyto), blockchain-based seed traceability systems, and increased trade in agro-commodities such as rice, sesame, and onions.

In education, the JEC emphasised academic and research cooperation, faculty and student exchanges, accreditation and quality assurance, and promoting Pakistan as a higher education destination for Sri Lankan students. A Joint Working Group on Education and Science was proposed, alongside renewal of several institutional Memoranda of Understanding.

Cooperation in science, technology, and innovation will continue under existing bilateral frameworks, with plans for joint research in advanced materials, biotechnology, climate change mitigation, and emerging technologies. Collaborative research projects, student exchanges, and co-authored publications were highlighted as key initiatives.

Health sector collaboration will focus on joint research, academic exchanges, regulatory cooperation on therapeutic goods, capacity building, fast-track registration of essential medicines, public-private partnerships, epidemiological surveillance, and coordinated responses to disease outbreaks.

Maritime cooperation was also discussed, with Pakistan offering technical expertise, training, and industrial collaboration through its shipbuilding institutions. Both sides explored enhanced maritime connectivity, including transshipment, port cooperation at Karachi and Gwadar, direct shipping routes, logistics integration, and maritime training programs.

Commerce secretary-level talks reviewed the progress of the Pakistan–Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (PSFTA), assessing current implementation and identifying measures to further enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

On the sidelines, Special Assistant Haroon Akhtar Khan held discussions with Sri Lankan Cabinet members on collaboration in industry, labor and foreign employment, and health sectors.

Both delegations expressed satisfaction with the outcomes of the 13th JEC and reaffirmed their commitment to regular engagement and effective implementation of agreed initiatives. It was mutually agreed that the 14th session will be held in Islamabad, with dates to be confirmed through diplomatic channels.