22nd Amendment to the constitution presented to Parliament

• Cabinet of Ministers will be limited to 30 and non-cabinet ministers 40
• The President can only hold the Ministry of Defence

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana   

The 22nd Amendment to the constitution under which powers of the President would be curtailed to some extent was presented to Parliament by the Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe yesterday.    

The amendment seeks to appoint a constitutional council which is headed by Speaker, and comprised of Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, one member representing Parliament who represent the government, one member nominated by the Opposition Leader, one member of Parliament from the party which leader of opposition belongs to, three members of Parliament nominated by agreement of MPs others than those representing the government and political party of which Leader of the Opposition belongs to. The Council will have the power to recommend to the President on appointments to independent commissions, recommend persons fit and proper as chairmen of the commissions.   

Nine commissions namely Election Commission, Public Service Commission, National Police Commission, Audit Service Commission, Human Rights Commission, Bribery Commission, Finance Commission, Delimitation Commission and National Procurement Commission will be established under the 20th Amendment for which members will be appointed by the constitutional council. The Constitutional Council will have the power to recommend appointments. These appointments include Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal, Members of Judicial Service Commission, Attorney General, and Governor of Central Bank, Auditor General, IGP and Secretary General of Parliament.   

As per the legislation, the President shall be responsible to Parliament and shall appoint ministers in consultation with the Prime Minister where he deems it necessary, Cabinet of Ministers will be limited to 30 and non-cabinet ministers 40. The President can only hold the ministry of defence. In the event of forming a national government, Parliament will have the power to decide the number of cabinet and non-cabinet ministers as per the new legislation. 
  
As per the 22nd Amendment Prime Minister’s post will fall vacant if the person holds office resigns, defeated by a no confidence motion and upon his death. The powers which President enjoyed to remove the Prime Minister if he thinks the person holding office is not deemed to be fit under the 20th Amendment has been removed.