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The proposed Constitutional Amendment is brought not just to have the Presidential term extended as claimed by the UNP but to remove the obstacles that prevent a person who held Presidency for two terms from contesting again, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said today.
The President was speaking at the 59th National Convention of SLFP at Temple Trees where the party endorsed the proposed constitutional reforms.
“In Section 92 of the Constitution, what is mentioned is that those who have mental disorders cannot contest at the Presidential Elections. He said a person who served as the President for two terms should not be put in the category meant for insane people,” he said.
The President said the constitutional amendments would provide anyone to contest the Presidential Election any number of times and the people of Sri Lanka will get the opportunity to elect whoever they liked.
Therefore, he asked the people not to entertain what he said were baseless arguments of the UNP. Commenting on the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the President said it would re-instate the powers that prevailed before 1978 to Parliament and the Cabinet. “There is nothing wrong in consulting members elected to the Parliament when making appointments,” he said.
The Prime Minister, The Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, and two proposed by the ruling party and the opposition are to be included in the proposed parliamentary council, the President said. “The appointment of a Tamil and a Muslim representative each to the Parliamentary Council shall be treated as mandatory,” he said.
“How can empowering the parliament be wrong?” asked the President and said that the dangers as shown by the opposition are actually non existent.