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22A lets President sack PM only because RW has no majority

05 Jul 2022

  • Wijeyadasa says said interim clause only for current P’ment
BY Buwanajee Coralage Minister of Justice and Constitutional Reforms Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe PC stated that an interim clause, valid only for the term of this Parliament, has been included in the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill with regard to the removal of the Prime Minister and the appointment and removal of Ministers and Deputy Ministers by the President, owing to the fact that incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe does not possess the majority vote in Parliament. “An interim clause has been included to the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill with regard to the removal of the Premier and the appointment and removal of Ministers. For the duration of this Parliament, it will be considered that the President will act under the guidance of the Prime Minister, rather than upon the decisions of the Premier, and this will in turn affect three clauses in the Constitution,” said Dr. Rajapakshe while speaking to the media on Sunday (3). “If it is evident to the President that the Prime Minister does not possess the majority vote in Parliament, the President will have the power to remove the Prime Minister. It is only an interim decision and will also affect the decision on appointing the Ministers and Deputy Ministers in the same manner. So these will be the three interim clauses included in the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill.” Furthermore, he explained how this decision was taken after careful deliberations on the arguments presented by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), which represents the President and holds the majority in the Parliament.  “The grounds for their argument is based upon the fact that the current Prime Minister does not hold a two thirds majority and represents only one seat in the Parliament. This was emphasized by the fact that the removal of the former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was possible only due to the President’s powers to remove the Prime Minister which led to the establishment of this new Government.”  It must be noted, however, that Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from the position (Prime Minister) following pressure from the President and the events of 9 May.  Additionally, Dr. Rajapakshe PC presented the argument put forward by others as a response, stating: “Another argument is that, similar to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, to leave it without assigning the President the powers to remove the Prime Minister.”  He pointed out that such a Bill will not be passed without the vote of the over 113 MPs representing the SLPP, adding that the inclusion of this interim clause can therefore be attributed to the need to gain the majority vote.


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