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NPC tells got not to proceed with 20A in its present form

Published

5 years ago

2020/09/7

The National Peace Council (NPC) yesterday urged the government to reconsider the need to proceed with the 20th Amendment in its present formulation as it is excessively centralizing and does not reflective of the plural nature of the Sri Lankan society.

“The proposed 20th Amendment to the constitution has been approved by the cabinet of ministers and put before the general public prior to being debated in parliament. This far reaching constitutional change seeks to centralize power in the institution of the Executive Presidency with the justification of ensuring stability in the country and safeguarding national sovereignty. In terms of the amendment, the President can remove the Prime Minister, a member of the cabinet, any other minister or a Deputy Minister and authority to dissolve Parliament after completion of sittings for a period of one year. This massive transfer of power to the Presidency has been justified to the electorate as stemming from the inability of the previous government to govern effectively under the 19th Amendment to the constitution,” the NPC said in a statement.

The NPC added that the 20th Amendment empowers the President to make appointments to top positions of the state having obtained observations of the Parliamentary Council, which is made of members from Parliament. The President will also be empowered to appoint the Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court, the President and the judges of the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General, the Auditor General and also to make appointments to the Election Commission, the Public Service Commission, Judicial Service Commission, the National Police Commission, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the Finance Commission and the Delimitation Commission, the MPC said. Unfortunately the proposed Parliamentary Council will have no civil society representation and can only advise the President and the previous 10 member Constitutional Council, which included 3 members of civil society, made these appointments, the press release said.

“The time frame for Bills to be challenged in the courts has been reduced from the previous two weeks to one. The Urgent Bills, a concept which was introduced by the 1972 Constitution had been misused by the successive governments in the past to pass various Bills. The extremely short time frame will compromise people’s right to know and constrain public discourse to challenge a Bill in a court of law. The sweeping powers given to the Presidency takes away the checks and balances on the powers of the President brought in by the 19th Amendment which it supersedes. The National Peace Council is particularly regretful that a constitutional provision eliminated that is relevant for our work is article 33 (1) (b) which said that the President shall “promote national reconciliation and integration.” It was the President’s office that was warranted by the 19th Amendment to be the driver of reconciliation,” NPC said.

Given the importance of the amendment and the serious nature of the changes, NPC request the government to reconsider the need to proceed with the 20th Amendment in its present formulation as it is excessively centralizing and not reflective of the plural nature of Sri Lankan society. The NPC added that there was no urgency for the 20th amendment because it is said to be an interim measure until the formulation of a new constitution. The NPC said that they fear this amendment may undermine the good work done by the office of the President to date, including providing entry to educated professionals to parliament through the national list, providing employment to many thousands of people and relief to those affected by the COVID induced economic downturn in terms of delayed loan payments and other development measures.

The NPC said that the 20th Amendment is a return to the 18th Amendment, which was passed in 2010 and made the Parliament subservient to the Presidency. The governance practices of the pre-2015 period, and their negative consequences, contributed to the change of government in 2015, the statement read. The entire basis of the 19th Amendment of 2015 was the need to ensure that the Rule of Law prevailed “over the rule of men” and that misuse and abuse of power should be prevented through a system of checks and balances in which the independence of institutions such as the judiciary was safeguarded to the maximum.

“The main negative outcome of the 19th Amendment was the inability of the former President and Prime Minister, and other government leaders, who came from two opposing political parties to work together. This led to a paralysis in the government which prevented it from governing in a problem solving manner. The current government does not suffer from the same constraint as they come from not only the same party and enjoy a 2/3 majority in Parliament, but also the President and Prime Minister are from the same family. An option for the government would be to focus on formulating a new constitution in which the weaknesses of the 19th Amendment can be addressed along with a reform of the electoral system. This could be a through a well thought out consultative process in which the opposition parties and civil society are also included that will enable the new constitution to be passed consensually by Parliament and the people,” NPC said.

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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake attends almsgiving for Ditwah disaster victims in Nelummala

Published

14 mins ago

2026/03/3

Thilina Walpola

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, along with several government Ministers, participated in a grand almsgiving ceremony (Maha Sanghika Dana) held on 27 February to invoke merit on the residents of Nelummala village who lost their lives in disasters triggered by Cyclone Ditwah.

The village, located in the Pallegala-Debokka Grama Niladhari Division of the Minipe Divisional Secretariat, in Kandy, was hit by a catastrophic landslide following the torrential rains in November 2025.

The religious ceremony took place at the Pamunupura Batumulla Junior School.

Ven. Dr. Narampanawe Ananda Thera, Anunayake of the Asgiriya Chapter of the Siyam Maha Nikaya together with the members of both the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters attended the event.

During the event, President Dissanayake was seen personally offering alms to the Maha Sangha and interacting with the grieving villagers.

By S.K. Samaranayake

News

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

Published

24 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

24 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.