At the Second Reading, it is expected to incorporate the three changes to the proposed 20th Amendment to be presented at the Committee Stage, apart from changes to be done based on the determination of the Supreme Court. One of the significant changes will be to limit the number of Cabinet Ministers to 30 and State Ministers to 40 as originally enacted in the 19th Amendment (19A). The Cabinet of Ministers has also decided to retain the power given to the Auditor General to audit State institutions, including the offices of the President and the Prime Minister as per the 19A to the Constitution.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, reading the determination of the Supreme Court said that Clauses 3,5,14 and 22 in the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution requires approval by the people through a referendum to be made law as those Clauses in the present form have inconsistencies with Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution. He said such inconsistencies in Clauses 3 and 14 could be eased by amending in accordance with the proposed Committee Stage amendments and the inconsistency in Clause 5 would cease if Clause 5 is suitably amended as specified in the determination. Accordingly, Clause 3 of the 20th Amendment refers to the powers and function of the President which is included in the 20th Amendment by repealing Article 33 of the Constitution.
Clause 5 refers to the Immunity of the President from suit, Clause 14 refers to Powers of the President to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament and Clause 22 refers to the offences any public officer has to face due to failure of complying to the directions given by the Election Commission in holding elections and referendum as mentioned in Article 104GG which was completely repealed in the 20th Amendment.
As per the decision of the Supreme Court, the draft Bill is in accordance with Article 82 (1) of the Constitution and that it has to be approved with a special majority according to Article 82 (5) of the Constitution.
Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa said, “During Monday’s Cabinet meeting, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa himself had proposed these changes to the 20A, based on the suggestions made by the Maha Sangha. One of them was not to change clauses regarding auditing in the 19th Amendment.” The Cabinet had also decided that emergency bills be moved only in the case of natural disasters and national security issues.
During the last few weeks, there was a national debate on the draft 20th Amendment. The main Opposition parties and some segments of civil society and professional groups expressed opposition to some of the clauses. The most politically significant opposition comes from some leaders of the Maha Sangha. Some of them want a new Constitution as the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) promised, but not the 20th Amendment. Those who supported 20A explained that it would take several months to adopt a new Constitution and the imperative need to remove the ambivalent clauses of the 19A to ensure a smooth governance process. Hence it was decided to submit the 20A as the first step.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena acknowledged during the latter part of his tenure that the 19A had created major problems in governance. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised the nation that his top priority was to amend the Constitution to ensure smooth governance. It was pointed out that a more powerful President (Commander-in-Chief) will be better equipped to strengthen national security and the economy would benefit if the President is empowered to make quick decisions unencumbered by red tape and any other delays that the other two branches of Government, the Legislature and the Judiciary could cause.
Many constitutional experts were of the view that the success story of Singapore was due to its system of a powerful executive steering the country towards economic success. Although geographically Singapore is much smaller than Sri Lanka, there is one important similarity between the two countries, which is the ethnic diversity of the two populations. In Sri Lanka, approximately 75 percent are Sinhalese, 15 percent Tamil and 10 percent Muslim. In Singapore, 74 percent are Chinese, 13 percent Malay and 9 percent Indian, mostly Tamil.
Under the strong executive presidency, Singapore has succeeded in maintaining a remarkable ethnic harmony. The founder leader Lee Kuan Yew explicitly stated that the country would be a multi-racial and multi-religious nation where all would be treated equally. Legislation such as the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, laws that require all public housing to be integrated and all political parties to nominate candidates belonging to the different ethnic groups help maintain ethnic harmony and understanding. The strict enforcement of law and order ensured a disciplined Singaporean population which live in peace and harmony.
Since March 2020, the economic activities in almost every sector either slowed down or came to a grinding halt due to Covid-19 pandemic. The global economy also slowed down affecting many Third World countries as well as most affluent nations. However, Sri Lanka managed the crisis efficiently and the first few phases were tackled successfully. However, the new phase of the Covid-19 pandemic that the country is currently facing will have serious economic consequences unless it is brought under control quickly. The people are quite confident that a strong Government could effectively tackle the crisis.
The International Monetary Fund, in its latest World Economic Outlook assessment issued two weeks ago expects Sri Lanka’s GDP to fall by 4.6 percent this year and grow back to the 2019 level in 2021. However, to attain even this limited growth, the country will have to control the spread of Covid-19 and take effective steps to revive the economy. The expert view is that these steps will be far easier to handle if the 20th Amendment is enacted to increase the powers of the Presidency.
Sri Lanka has achieved significant economic growth under the Executive Presidencies of J.R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa and Mahinda Rajapaksa. Growth can be further improved with better policies under the Gotabaya Rajapaksa presidency that has the overwhelming support of the people.
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