Gammanpila goes to SC against 20A

The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) today filed a petition against the 20th Amendment to the Constitution in the Supreme Court (SC), thus becoming the first faction to challenge the piece of legislation in the SC.

Party leader and MP Udaya Gammanpila said they requested the SC that the 20A should not only be passed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament but also receive the consent of the public at a referendum.

"The Constitution clearly says a referendum should be held if presidential elections or the general election is being postponed. Though it doesn’t mention about the provincial council elections, people practice their franchise through elections. Therefore, the Constitution says any amendment related to people's franchise should receive the consent of the people at a referendum," he told journalists after filing the petition in SC.

He also said the current amendment was impractical. The MP said they were against the amendment based on political and constitutional factors and therefore, requested the SC to order the government to hold a referendum before passing the amendment.  (By Lahiru Pothmulla)