Cabinet agrees on 20A

8 June 2015 05:17 pm

Cabinet, at a special session today, decided to draft legislation by Friday, to implement electoral reforms as the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

Though it had been proposed to increase the number of MPs to 255, Cabinet finally decided to maintain the number at 225 as at present, as insisted upon by the United National Party (UNP).

Cabinet instructed the Elections Commissioner and the Legal Draftsman to formulate the new legislation and submit it to President Maithripala Sirisena by Friday. Both the officials were present during yesterday's meeting.

The UNP had throughout been opposed to any increase in the number of MPs. Ultimately the entire Cabinet had accepted the UNP proposal.

The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), an Opposition party, had also opposed any increase.

It is now proposed to elect 125 MPs from the constituencies, 75 according to the Proportional Representation System by district, and the remaining 25 from the National List, under the new system. (Kelum Bandara)