DailyMirror
Electoral reforms, second chamber and unlimited tenure for president
The cabinet is expected to approve the proposed constitutional and electoral reforms within the next two weeks and table them in parliament in June so that they will be in force before President Mahinda Rajapaksa takes oaths for his second term on November 17, a senior minister said yesterday.
SLFP General Secretary and Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena told a news conference the reforms would introduce an electoral system that combined the proportional representation and first-past-the-post system with most of the elected members whether to parliament or local councils being responsible for their electorates or wards.
He said the reforms would also include the introduction of a second chamber to review parliamentary bills; the strengthening of the 17th Amendment to give more power to independent commissions and the removal of the restriction on the president seeking a third term or more.
“The entire country wants to do away with the preferential voting system that has distorted and disrupted the smooth and trouble free electoral system that existed until 1978. Instead of bringing about the intended results this has brought a plethora of problems such as election violence, intense fighting for preferential votes even among party members and heavy expenses incurred on election campaign budgets leading to corruption,” Minister Sirisena said.
He said the 17th Amendment had to be amended to give more powers to independent commissions and de-politicize the selection of members to the Constitutional Council.
“For instance, the Public Services Commission has not performed up to expectation. A number of ministers have complained that the Commission’s response to urgent requests on issues such as recruitments, transfers and disciplinary actions has been lethargic,” Minister Sirisena said.
A second chamber is meant mainly to address the grievances of minorities and to review parliamentary bills that relate to electoral reforms and subjects that come under Provincial Councils.
“Parliament cannot pass Bills that affect the Provincial Councils without the concurrence of the Councils. That issue will not arise when the second chamber is constituted. The second chamber will comprise 25 members with two members from each PC,” he said.
An executive president must not be restricted to two terms. A president should have the opportunity to be elected as long as he or she commands the people’s trust, confidence and the popularity.
“The main objective of this exercise is to carry out the government’s ambitious economic development programme and make Sri Lanka the economic miracle of Asia in the next six years. We have policy guidelines and work programmes under the Mahinda Chintana policy framework. We need four more members for a two-thirds majority as two UNP members — Abdul Cader and Palani Diagambaram have already pledged to work with the government,” Minister Sirisena said.
He said the opposition could submit its proposals or amendments to the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on constitutional reforms.