President Maithripala Sirisena has taken a personal interest in getting the 20th Amendment passed, giving it precedence over the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister.

The president is to address a public rally in Colombo today in support of the 20th Amendment. The Amendment is to be presented to a Cabinet meeting this evening and is expected to be gazetted in the near future.

Sirisena took a personal interest in getting the 19th Amendment earlier, addressing the UPFA and SLFP MPs a day before the debate, urging them to support the bill. It is expected that he will apply pressure on SLFP to give precedence to the 20th Amendment.

However, speaking at a press conference on Saturday, UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardena said that they are not demanding the dissolution of parliament. They demand only to replace the Prime Minister with a UPFA MP, he said.