SLFP pushes for mixed electoral system, backs executive presidential system with amendments

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has called for a mixed electoral system for elections while calling for the executive presidency to be retained, subject to amendments.

The SLFP presented its proposals this week to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed to identify appropriate reforms of the election laws and the electoral system and to recommend necessary amendments. The PSC is headed by House Leader and Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

The SLFP’s proposals were submitted by the party's General Secretary and State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara. The proposals reiterated the party's position that elections should be held under a mixed electoral system without the existing preferential vote system.

The party emphasised that the executive presidency should be retained subject to amendments. Laws, however, should be introduced to prohibit duel citizens from becoming President, the SLFP added.

Laws should also be passed to prevent powers of the executive presidency being misused, the party noted.

The party has said the parliamentary elections should be held under the mixed system with 70 percent of the MPs elected under the First- Past- the- Post ( FPP) system and 30 percent under the Proportional Representation (PR) system. The national lists of political parties should be filled with a variety of representatives including experts and professionals.

When appointing nominees from the national list to Parliament, only those who were on the original list or candidates who handed in nominations should be appointed. No duel citizens should be on the national lists or district nomination lists of parties contesting parliamentary elections, the party has proposed.

The SLFP has emphasised that a District Council ( DC) system should be introduced in place of the prevailing Provincial Council (PC) system to better decentralise power. The composition of these DSs should be decided after a broad ranging dialogue. Electing members to the DSs should be done under the 70: 30 ratio employed for the parliamentary elections. Duel citizens should also be prohibited from contesting these elections.