Proposed 20A open to changes before being passed
The proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution could be changed from the draft that has been gazetted now after incorporating suitable and agreeable proposals and changes by the public, intelligentsia, clergy and any other section of the society before it is passed in Parliament, Co-cabinet spokesman Udaya Gammanpila said yesterday.
He said a lengthy and tedious process has to be followed in and out of Parliament before the final draft of the 20A, gets through the legislature with a two-thirds majority.
Addressing the weekly cabinet news briefing last morning, Minister Gammanpila admitted that divergent and dissenting views had been raised on the 20A by various quarters and all concerns would be addressed before it is incorporated in the Constitution.
Responding to a journalist, he said the government would pay attention to the comments that had been allegedly made by senior lawyer and his guru Romesh De Silva PC and respected intellectuals like Gunadasa Amarasekara and
Prof. Nalin De Silva who played a big role to bring the SLPP government to power.
“We would definitely listen to these learned men who are our teachers. The 20A is open for a public dialogue and after the tabling it in Parliament, anyone can ask for an interpretation of the draft of the 20A, clause by clause and word by word. After the Supreme Court ruling, necessary changes and amendments can be introduced at the committee stage in addition to other amendments and proposals forwarded by the opposition, the public, the civil society and organizations. Therefore, the draft of the 20A, is not something written on a stone.
It is subjected to review and change. Nobody and nothing is perfect,” he stressed.
Responding to the Daily Mirror on the allegedremarks thathad been made by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa that the opposition would defeat the 20A in Parliament, Co-cabinet spokesman and Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said, the remarks were a sign that parliamentary democracy was in full swing in Sri Lanka.
“Any one is free to make comments and oppose or propose changes to the 20A. The government is ready to consider all changes forwarded by any one at the committee stage,” Minister Rambukwella emphasized.