Executive presidency has created a redundant parliament: Karu

The executive presidency has rendered parliament, the highest democratic institution in the land, redundant, UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya said yesterday.

Mr. Jayasuriya said in a statement yesterday that Laws were now being made and imagined at will today by the all powerful executive.

He said everything that presently ailed Sri Lanka hinged on a single factor – the executive presidency that concentrates all power in the hands of a single individual who can at his whim and fancy, systematically undermine and destroy every other institution of governance in the country.

Mr. Jayasuriya said this system in the hands of this administration, which s managed to bring about the 18th Amendment that further erodes democracy and places more power at the disposal of the all powerful President. “This has become a scourge that the public and even politicians must suffer,” he said.

“The intimidation of the press, the harassment of political detractors and the way in which this regime conducts itself is a result of our presidential system which affords absolute power,” he said. He said every aspect of life, whether it is judicial independence, the rule of law, media freedom or the economy is shaped and determined by the will of one all powerful man.

The UNP MP said none of these issues could be put right and Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans would continue to suffer the insane policies derived by its all powerful rulers for their benefit and theirs alone. He said the time was opportune for all Sri Lanka’s political forces who were opposed to the tyrannical course this presidential system has set for this country to come together to preserve the future of this nation.

“Sri Lanka is in the midst of a crisis, it is clearly understood, by politicians and public alike and stands alone in the world, with no obligation to adhere to the accepted norms of civilized conduct towards her citizenry,” he said

The intimidation of the press, the harassment of political detractors and the way which this regime conducts itself is a result of our presidential system