Court decision on constitutional amendment sent to Speaker

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 04:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Wednesday sent its decision on the proposed constitutional amendments to the Speaker of the House, Chamal Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The decision would be announced in the parliament on September 7. The five-member Bench of the Supreme Court chaired by Justice Shiranee Bandaranaike went through the draft bill that removes the restriction of the two term executive presidency system and the introduction of a parliamentary Advisory Council replacing the Constitutional Council appointed under the 17th amendment of the Constitution.

The five-member Bench of the Supreme Court heard the submissions filed on behalf of the Sinhala Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Centre for Policy Alternative (CPA).

They had filed intervening petitions arguing that the bill required a referendum and a two thirds majority in the House.