21st Constitutional Amendment Will Hold 'Presidency Accountable': PM Wickremesinghe

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday said the 21st Amendment that he is bringing would increase the powers of the Parliament and "hold the presidency accountable".

The 21st Amendment is expected to annul the 20th Amendment of the Constitution, which gives unfettered powers to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after abolishing the 19th Amendment that will strengthen Parliament.

Invoking examples of United Kingdom, New Zealand, and India, Wickremesinghe said the 21st Amendment, aimed at curbing President Gotabaya's unfettered powers, would help the Sri Lanka in several ways.  

Making a special televised statement on the current constitutional reforms programme in motion, Wickremesinghe said existing laws need to be strengthened in order to give those powers to Parliament in the exercise of monetary powers.

He said. "The 21st Amendment to the Constitution will be passed and the parliament will be strengthened. The move is to make parliament stronger while holding the presidency accountable to the assembly."

Wickremesinghe has launched a move to introduce the 21st Amendment in order to restore the 19 Amendment of 2015.

In his statement, Wickremesinghe emphasised that the main issues in Sri Lanka are not limited to the economic sphere.

He said, "There are also two major issues in the political sphere. The re-introduction of the 19th Amendment is one of these issues. We, as party leaders, are now preparing the 21st Amendment. The second issue is to work towards the abolition of the Executive Presidency. The timing and methodology must be decided by the Party Leaders."

Referring to the functioning of the parliament, Wickremesinghe said that powers given to the house have been weakened. 

He said, "The functioning of the Parliament has been paralysed due to the weakening of the Parliamentary powers by the 20th Amendment. The Executive has been given more powers. The main allegation today is that the Parliament has not acted to prevent the economic crisis. There is an allegation that even though the ruling party had a majority in Parliament they neglected the work of the Parliament. Everything was systematically controlled by the Cabinet Ministers. We do not always have to look at what happened in the past, but there are examples we can follow."

Sri Lanka is facing the worst financial crisis in the country's history, which has been caused by an acute shortage of foreign exchange, leading to great harships in the country as people face shortage of vehicular fuel, cooking gas, foodstuff, and medicines, and prices have skyrocketed as well. The country also has a shortage of thermal fuel to produce power. 

The financial crisis has also triggered a political crisis as the Sri Lankan people have blamed the ruling Rajapaksa clan for financial mismangement. Intense protests are going on for over a month, which have turned violent at times and have resulted in deaths as well. 

Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to resign as prime minister. He was replaced by Wickremesinghe. However, protests seeking the resignation of President Gotabaya, Mahinda's younger brother, continue. Protesters are occupying the entrance to the Gotabaya's office for more than 50 days.

Wickremesinghe said there was a need to change the structure of Parliament and create a new system.

He said, “Now we need to change the structure of Parliament and create a new system by combining the existing system of Parliament or the Westminster system and the system of State Councils. In those cases Parliament can participate in governing the country.

“At present there are three Committees on Government Finance. The three Committees are the Public Finance Committee, the Accounts Committee and the Committee on Public Enterprises. Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena has made several proposals to strengthen the powers of these three Committees."

Wickremesinghe said that they are working to establish two new Committees on Monetary Affairs.

He said, “We will appoint a Legal and Methodological Committee to look into the matter. Secondly, the main problem we face is the financial condition of the banks and financial institutions. There are a number of issues that have been weakened."

Wickremesinghe also proposed roles for the youth and creation of a National Council.

He said, “The youth are calling for a change in the existing system. They also want to know the current issues. Therefore, I propose to appoint four youth representatives to each of these 15 committees. One of them will be appointed by the Youth Parliament. The other three will be from the protesting groups and other activist groups."

The Sri Lankan youth of late have been highly active in demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 

He said, “We also propose a National Council. A committee consisting of the Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the major parties is called the National Council."

Under the 21A, the President will be held accountable to the Parliament. The Cabinet of Ministers is also accountable to Parliament. The National Council is also accountable to Parliament. Fifteen Committees and Oversight Committees are accountable to Parliament.

He said, “There is a system in place to control the Government through the Cabinet, to examine the work of the President, to oversee the work of the political affairs through the National Council and to oversee the financial affairs and other matters of the other fifteen committees."

(With PTI inputs)