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The Sri Lanka Audit Inspectors’ Association claims the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution causes great damage to the independence of the Auditor General. The Sri Lanka Audit Inspectors’ Association called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to rectify the clauses that cause a negative impact to the State Audit Service by the proposed amendment. In a […]

The proposed 20th amendment will be the death of free and fair elections in Sri Lanka. The study of political communications and digital propaganda for over a decade leaves no room for doubt on what will follow if (when?) the 20th Amendment, in its current form, is passed in Parliament. Worse, if the proposed amendment is a […]

The first draft of the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution is here and to no one’s surprise. Although the first version of the 20th Amendment was introduced, drafted, and billed in Parliament by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in 2018, the new government’s version promotes and parades entirely new reforms. Once passed, these reforms will become […]

Operationality of RTI at risk  Removal of Audit Commission impairs monitoring of public spending  CIABOC’s investigative powers compromised  Election Commission restricted from acting against public property misuse  Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) is deeply troubled by the plight of several independent commissions and the regression of transparency and accountability as a result of provisions within the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution. Key amongst […]

Image: A scene from the film ‘paangshu’ Human rights issues related to enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka still continue. The grievances and the anxieties of those loved ones of the disappeared due to the ‘88-89 insurgency and the three-decade-long separatist war exist to this day. In this context Daily Mirror spoke to human rights activist […]

Alleges Buddhist monk member of Task Force stopping farmers from cultivating on around 1000 acres of land in Thiriyai area Writes to President requesting action to allow farmers to continue their cultivation   Says many returned to farming after the end of war and have to cultivate by 15 Sep. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. […]

On 2 September, the Sri Lankan government gazetted the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution Bill. The Bill reverses key aspects of the Nineteenth amendment that sought to tame the country’s imperial presidency. It will subordinate the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the President, weaken Parliament’s autonomy from the executive, and render independent oversight and accountability frameworks ineffective. While key constraints, […]

The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution Bill (20A) is in the public domain. If I were to describe it in one sentence — 20A seeks to take the country backwards to the 2010-2015 period. The only features introduced by 19A that would survive if 20A is passed in its present form would be the five-year […]

Image courtesy of http://fgulen.com. The draft 20th Amendment to the constitution is a tribute to the faith placed in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the members of the government and the general population. This proposed change in the supreme law of the country will provide him with virtually unfettered powers and dominance over parliament and all […]

Image: The 13th amendment was brought up as part of Indo-Sri Lanka accord in 1987 and provincial councils were set up as part of devolution of powers, particularly for Tamil minorities. After the Rajapaksas’ win in the November 2019 presidential polls and the August 2020 general election, the spotlight has fallen on two key legislations […]

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake reportedly supported the abolition of the Provincial Council system in Sri Lanka in remarks made this week, according to News Wire. The website reported that during a panel discussion held in Swarnavahini, Dissanayake said the proposed 20th Amendment is an amendment to the constitution like the 13th and […]

File photo courtesy of the Toronto Star. Armed with a two-third majority in Parliament, the Rajapaksas may not be content only with bringing in the 20th Amendment. The fear, especially among the Tamil minorities is that the 13th Amendment will go too. The 13th Amendment was a consequence of the Indian intervention in Sri Lanka […]

When Justice AP Shah remarked recently that, ‘India is moving towards some form of elected autocracy’, he may have been speaking for the entire region and perhaps, swathes of the world in turmoil as it were. But the fact that we are not the only comfortless creatures facing perversions of democratic governance is cold wisdom […]

The proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution makes several significant changes to the present Constitution, altering the dynamics of the separation of powers between the various organs of government, with the balance of power tipping in favour of the executive President. Presidential Immunity According to the proposed 20th amendment, the President will be immune from […]

The proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution makes several significant changes to the present Constitution, altering the dynamics of the separation of powers between the various organs of government, with the balance of power tipping in favour of the executive President. The amendment also makes major changes to the law-making process, which could result in […]

Media Associations are paying attention with regard to the arrest of web editor Chathuranga de Silva. Desmond Chathuranga de Silva, the editor of the lankanewsweb.org website, who was arrested on August 31, based on a complaint received by the Computer Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigation Department, was produced in court on 01st September and remanded until 14th September. […]

Mario Arulthas and Madura Rasaratnam. The Rajapaksa family’s recent resounding electoral successes appear at first sight to mark a decisive break in Sri Lanka’s post-war politics. Led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, former president and now Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the family rode to victory on a platform castigating the previous administration’s economic […]

4th September 2020: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned by the changes proposed by the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution Bill gazetted on 2nd September 2020 and its impact on constitutional democracy in Sri Lanka. CPA notes that the proposed amendment rolls back democratic reforms introduced by the Nineteenth Amendment in 2015 and are a return to […]

 Chandani Kirinde. The 20th Amendment (20A) will restore all Executive powers of the President which were scaled down by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, replacing the Constitutional Council with a weakened Parliamentary Council (PC), allowing dual citizens to sit in Parliament, and lifting restrictions on the number of Cabinet and junior ministers. The President’s […]

Basically, brings back 18A, except the reduction of the terms of President and parliament to five years, 2-term limit for the President and right to information President appoints Ministers and deputies; not required to act on the advice of PM as was the case under 19A; may consult PM but not required to do so […]

Sri Lanka Brief Update /04 September 2020 The government of Sri Lanka gazetted its proposed 20th amendment to the constitution on 2nd September 2020. It nullifies the major democratic gains achieved including checks and balances (i.e. independent commissions) to the executive presidency through the 19th amendment to the constitution. The 19th amendment established a Constitutional […]

In different parts of Sri Lanka, families of the disappeared came together to hold events to commemorate the UN Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30. In Digana (Central province), families held a fair at a Catholic church. In Jaffna (Northern province), families from across the North joined a protest march. In […]

Universal suffrage is a democratic right that we must all respect and uphold. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Sri Lankan voters who exercised their voting right in this election. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the inaugural session of 9th parliament of Sri Lanka. Now that the euphoria over the victories […]

Recently, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to amend/repeal (?) the 19th Amendment to the Constitution (hereinafter referred to as 19). The media divulged that the government would retain positive features of the 19 and remove the unwanted. Concurrently, to identify and recommend these a Committee of five was appointed. Background of 19 The 19 has […]

“Despite having been presented with important opportunities for genuine change and reform starting in early 2015, the Sri Lankan authorities have failed to adopt and implement a comprehensive transitional justice policy with the four constitutive elements of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence,” says Pablo De Greiff, report of the Special Rapporteur on the […]

The general elections of 2020, conducted in the midst of the ongoing crisis of COVID-19 and a global economic recession imminent, marks yet another turning point in our political history. Two issues under girded the campaign; nation building ideological platforms and economic considerations in the name of progress, development and welfare of the people. It […]

The “Mathiya Seyal Kuzhu” (central working committee) of the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi(ITAK) also known as the Federal Party will be meeting today (Aug 29) in Vavuniya. The committee is generally referred to as “Mathiya Kuzhu”(Central committee). The Central Working committee is the key representative body of the ITAK. It comprises representatives elected by each […]

Tamil families of the disappeared rallied across the North-East today to mark International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Families demonstrated in districts across the Tamil homeland and were joined by members of the public and Tamil politicians. Relatives of the forcibly disappeared have been protesting on the streets across the North East for […]

(Image courtesy of blogs.worldbank.org) Although the immediate task of the Government is to resolve the present economic crisis and stabilise the economy, people’s expectations are that the new Government with its massive mandate would navigate the economy from its current economic crisis to long term economic stability and growth. Immediate tasks The immediate macroeconomic tasks […]

Scarcely having sufficient time to properly settle into his Chair as Sri Lanka’s Parliament opened for business this week, the Speaker faced down two attempts to trespass on the ‘legislative power of the People,’ throwing up intriguing questions in regard to the country’s parliamentary process, or what is left of this. Freedoms of Speech in […]