Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe moved the 19th Amendment to the Constitution a short while ago.

National Executive Council came to a decision to present the draft bill to parliament on March 24, when it met on March 17.

The Gazette Notification on the 19th Amendment was published at midnight on March 16, after it received Cabinet approval on the day before. However, some discrepancy was reported between the version approved by the Cabinet and the version published.

Several parties said they were opposed to the version in the Gazette Notification. Former State Minister Professor Rajiva Wijesinha decided to sit in the opposition side of the parliament, partly due to the same reason.

However, it is reported that the version published in the Gazette Notification had been amended before presenting it to the parliament. A meeting was reportedly held recently between President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on the 19th Amendment.