23 October 2020 12:14 am
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is for a system which has checks and balances in place, Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa told Parliament yesterday.
Mr. Premadasa who was speaking during the debate on the 20th Amendment in the House said his party would propose a governing system where powers are shared by both the President and the Prime Minister.
“We don’t want a system which makes the President a scarecrow while we also reject a system which makes the Prime Minister a peon,” Mr. Premadasa said.
“We propose a tri-party system where there is an Executive President, Prime Minister and the Judiciary” he said.
Mr. Premadasa proposed that the Constitution should provide provisions to appoint an independent national security council. He said such a council could prevent anyone from playing around with the country’s security.
Also he said, what the Government should focus on is to bring in a new Health Act and also a new Quarantine Act, given today’s situation, instead of amending the Constitution.
“Government should also listen to monks such as Venerable Murutthetuwe Ananda Thera and Venerable Elle Gunawansa Thera who were close associates of my father as well,” he said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)