GL tells prelates why the 19A has to go

BY CYRIL WIMALASURENDRE

KANDY –

It was of paramount importance to do away with the 19th Amendment and introduce a new Constitution, Minister of Education, Professor G. L. Peiris, said in Kandy on Saturday.

The Minister said so after calling on the prelates of Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters to apprise them of the government’s plan to change the Constitution.

Prof. Peiris said that the 19th Amendment obstructed the development process.

He said that the 19th amendment had prevented the President from holding a ministerial portfolio. The President, who was the head of the government and responsible for the security of the country, couldn’t act as the Minister of Defence, he said.

The Constitutional Council and the independent commissions were not what they claimed to be, Prof. Peiris said. The Independent Commissions comprised representatives of political parties. A member of an independent commission had told the people not to give Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna SLPP a two-thirds majority, the Minister said.

The government should do away with the 19th Amendment since it was a promise given to the people, Prof. Peiris said.

The previous government had failed to prevent the Easter Sunday disaster due to the 19th Amendment because there had been a tug-of-war in that government. The intelligence agencies had given many warnings but the authorities could not take swift action due to the rift, he added.