President meets constitutional experts
[April 13, 2004 - 10.15 GMT]

President Chandrika Kumaratunga within a week of her party’s success at the elections has begun the political process of effecting constitutional reforms. The President, Friday April 9 chaired a meeting of constitutional experts.

The elite panel which met the President comprised Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, President’s Councils M.M. Zuhair and Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, Professor Ranjith Ameresinghe, Mr. R.K.W. Gunesekera, Professor Gamini Keerawella and Mr. Nigel Hatch.

President Kumaratunga who is the Minister of Constitutionl Affairs in the new Government is scheduled to meet her newly elected political leaders and representatives of constituent parties soon, to discuss the recent people's mandate to repeal and replace the 1978 Constitution.

In the recently concluded Parliamentary Election, 106 or two thirds of the 160 electorates and 14 or two thirds of the island's 22 electoral districts voted for her party, which sought a mandate from the people to repeal the present constitution. Therefore the newly elected Members of Parliament of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance plan to push for Parliament to also function as a Constituent Assembly and enact a new constitution. Government sources say the new Constitution will be placed before the people at a Referendum before enactment.

After Friday's consultation President Kumaratunga commented that none of the post independent constitutions or major amendments such as the one which devolved power to the provinces had been approved by a people’s plebiscite, the proposed new constitution the President said will, for the first time ever, be placed before the people prior to enactment.

The President told her legal advisors and constitutional experts at the conclusion of the three hour meeting on Good Friday, “Political stability is vital for securing permanent peace and economic development. We need to accelerate economic development; we must keep pace with other regional economies which have gone ahead of us, while we have frittered away valuable development hours on political trivialities".

Political analysts and commentators have long held the present constitution needs revision to ensure greater stability in governance. However Sri Lanka appears locked in a constitutional trap. No constitutional amendment is possible without an absolute majority in the legislature. The complex PR system of voting enshrined in the present Constitution makes it virtually impossible for any single party to secure a comfortable majority to form a stable government.

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Last Updated Date: April 13, 2004  - 10.15 GMT.