The draft bill of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution received Cabinet approval today in the special cabinet meeting convened by President Maithripala Sirisena.

 

Accordingly, the draft bill on the 19th Amendment will be gazetted tonight. Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told media that the draft bill will be approved in parliament after a debate, without considering it as an emergency bill.

 

The bill was first produced to the Cabinet by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday. However, the Cabinet was not able to come to an agreement. The president convened a party leaders' meeting today where the draft was discussed extensively. Afterwards, the draft bill was forwarded to the Cabinet which gave its approval.

 

The party leaders agreed on eight key points to be included in the draft bill. Most of these points concern the reduction of executive presidential powers. Meanwhile, provisions for electoral reform will be included as well.

 

This satisfied the decision of UPFA party leaders' meeting yesterday. The UPFA decided that both executive presidency and electoral method should be amended simultaneously.

 

The SLFP earlier demanded that the constitutional amendment should not be passed as an emergency bill. This request has also been satisfied by the decision to debate it in the parliament as an ordinary bill.