Colombo, Aug 3 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday reaffirmed his government’s position to abolish the presidential system through constitutional reforms.
Dissanayake has advocated for decentralisation of power and a strong parliamentary system. This was a central plank of the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, to which the president belongs.
There is widespread belief that abolishing the existing executive presidency system would restore the supremacy of the parliament and pave the way for balanced distribution of power among the legislative, executive and judicial branches.
Changing the system requires constitutional reforms.
President Dissanayake “reaffirmed that it is the Government’s position that the Constitution should be reformed and that the Executive Presidency should be abolished,” said a statement issued by his office.
“However, he stressed that, rather than pursuing a hastily drafted constitutional amendment, the priority at this stage is to build a new national consensus. The President emphasised the importance of initiating a broad and inclusive national dialogue to achieve that objective,” it added.
He made these remarks Monday morning during a meeting with the representatives of an alliance formed by six Tamil and Muslim political parties at the Presidential Secretariat.
The alliance flagged a range of issues to the president, including the introduction of a comprehensive new constitution, the holding of provincial council elections, concerns of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the problems of Tamils of Indian origin.
Regarding the delay in holding the provincial elections, President Dissanayake noted that a parliamentary selection committee had been appointed to examine matters related to the conduct of the polls and said he expected to engage with the Committee to discuss the issues that have arisen. PTI CORR RD ABD ZH RD RD
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.