Wijedasa Rajapakshe proposes amendments to the Constitution

By Ajith Siriwardana   

Former Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe said yesterday he had proposed two amendments to the Constitution including an Amendment to abolish the Constitutional Council. He told a news conference that the draft of the Amendments 21 and 22 to the Constitution had been Gazetted.    He said the 21st Amendment to the Constitution proposed to raise the minimum vote should be obtained by minority party to 12.5 percent from the current rate of 5 percent of the total polled votes. He said the bar for minority parties to enter parliament was reduced to 5 per cent through the 15th Amendment and said he had proposed to bring it to the previous 12.5 per cent before the 15th Amendment.    Mr. Rajapakshe said the 22nd amendment will allow to abolish Constitutional Council which was empowered to appoint independent judges, the police chief and senior government officials and also to allow the president to hold the defence ministry.