AGL 40.39 Increased By ▲ 0.38 (0.95%)
AIRLINK 127.52 Decreased By ▼ -0.47 (-0.37%)
BOP 6.61 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.15%)
CNERGY 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-2.17%)
DCL 8.56 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.94%)
DFML 42.20 Increased By ▲ 0.72 (1.74%)
DGKC 87.25 Increased By ▲ 0.67 (0.77%)
FCCL 32.60 Increased By ▲ 0.46 (1.43%)
FFBL 65.21 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-0.32%)
FFL 10.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.2%)
HUBC 109.53 Decreased By ▼ -0.96 (-0.87%)
HUMNL 14.55 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-1.36%)
KEL 5.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.19%)
KOSM 7.51 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (5.48%)
MLCF 41.68 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.07%)
NBP 59.57 Decreased By ▼ -0.52 (-0.87%)
OGDC 194.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.59 (-0.3%)
PAEL 28.11 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.57%)
PIBTL 7.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-2.13%)
PPL 152.15 Increased By ▲ 0.98 (0.65%)
PRL 26.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.32 (-1.19%)
PTC 16.09 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (0.56%)
SEARL 82.65 Increased By ▲ 4.45 (5.69%)
TELE 7.47 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.08%)
TOMCL 35.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-0.76%)
TPLP 8.20 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (3.67%)
TREET 16.16 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (1.7%)
TRG 52.63 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.25%)
UNITY 26.60 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
WTL 1.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-3.15%)
BR100 9,931 Increased By 10.4 (0.1%)
BR30 30,791 Increased By 39.6 (0.13%)
KSE100 93,573 Increased By 348 (0.37%)
KSE30 28,995 Increased By 109.8 (0.38%)

Sri Lanka's President Sunday called for sweeping reforms to the country's constitution that he introduced in 2015 to be rolled back, saying they are responsible for political instability. Maithripala Sirisena said the 19th amendment to the constitution - which notably transferred some of the president's powers to the Prime Minister and depoliticised key institutions - should be scrapped because it has led to a power struggle.
It "has triggered instability. There is no single leader," Sirisena told a meeting in Colombo. "People believe that the president and Prime Minister are pulling in different directions." Sirisena came to power in 2015 promising constitutional reform carried out with the 19th amendment, including the reduction of the powers of the executive and giving greater authority to parliament.
The police, public service, election commission and the judiciary were depoliticised - and term limits of the presidency, which were removed by Sirisena's predecessor, were restored. Human rights were strengthened and the president was made answerable to parliament and could be challenged in court. At the time, Sirisena was hailed internationally for the sweeping reforms.
However, in October, he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and tried to bring his former nemesis Rajapakse back to power. The Supreme Court held his actions were illegal and restored the status quo. Sirisena's attempts to extend his presidential term by a further year was also shot down by the top court. The president does not have the two-thirds parliamentary majority in the current parliament that he needs to change the constitution.
The independent elections commission is due to conduct the next presidential poll between November 9 and December 9. Sirisena has an uneasy relationship with the premier who helped him come to power. The two have clashed openly as the prime minister has made it clear that he wants to contest the upcoming presidential polls.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019

Comments

Comments are closed.