Aye for 19 Amendment

April 29, 2015

Politics is the art of the possible aptly demonstrated as parties finally
reach consensus on historic amendment in marathon Parliamentary
session
212 vote in favour, one against and another abstains; 10 MPs absent
Constitutional Council becomes final deadlock, Govt. compromises to get
19A through
Four MPs to sit on Council, with three professionals and three ex
officio members
Drawn-out committee stage finally ends at 10.45 p.m.
Pro-Mahinda faction of UPFA puts up strong resistance during Committee
Stage
Glad tidings for good governance and democracy as passing of 19th
Amendment hailed as victory for people
PM says consensus led to historic moment
Opposition Leader says Parliament must yet rise to deliver electoral
reforms via 20th Amendment
Pment to meet again on 19 May

President Maithripala Sirisena together with Prime Minister Ranil

Wickremesinghe in Parliament in this file photo. They were the champions
of the 19th Amendment in the national interest despite many challenges
By Dharisha Bastians
Parliament last night passed the historic 19th Amendment to the

Constitution with an overwhelming majority in a marathon session, though

the triumph was marred slightly for President Maithripala Sirisenas minority
Government when it was forced to compromise on the composition of the
Constitutional Council to get the legislation through the House.
The 19th Amendment was passed by 225-member Parliament with 212
votes in support of it, 1 vote against it from MP Sarath Weerasekara and 1
abstention (Ajith Kumara). Ten MPs, including former Premier D.M. Jayaratne
and Basil Rajapaksa, were absent during the vote. The passage of the 19th
Amendment will be recorded as a major victory for the Sirisena
Government, after President Sirisena made constitutional amendments to
slash the powers of the presidency and de-politicise state institutions, a
central pledge of his election campaign.
The amended bill was passed after amendments moved at the Committee
Stage were adopted late last night.
This is a historic moment, we now have a President who is responsible to
Parliament, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe after the final vote
tally was read out by the Speaker.
Maybe all our hopes were not realised in this amendment. But we
managed to reach a consensus, the Premier said, congratulating the
House.
It is the peoples wish that the 20th Amendment to the Constitution was
also presented and adopted as soon as possible, Opposition Leader Nimal
Siripala De Silva said at the end of the session.
De Silva also said that the Parliament could not be satisfied be with the
passage of 19th Amendment alone but a similar bipartisanship was required
to approve the crucial electoral reforms via the 20th Amendment. People
are expecting this and I hope all MPs will rise to the occasion, the
Opposition Leader added. He also said that some tried to give the
impression that the SLFP and the UPFA were against the 19th Amendment
but this wasnt true. However, he said there was constructive criticism in
the national interest.
De Silva also described the passage of the 19th Amendment as a victory for
the people and commended the leadership given by President Sirisena who
had succeeded where none of his predecessors could.
The adoption of the 19th Amendment followed a long day of hectic
negotiations between the Government and the SLFP and four hours in

Committee that continued well into the night. Parliament finally adjourned
for the day past 11.00 p.m.
Despite much sound and fury by the pro-Mahinda faction of the UPFA, the
members appeared to decide that they would not go down in history as
opposing the 19th Amendment, even though the group launched several
efforts to scuttle its passage.
The 19th Amendment was passed during its second reading at 7.00
p.m. with 215 votes in its favour, one vote against it, one abstention and
seven absentees. Former Civil Defence Force Commander Sarath
Weerasekera cast the sole vote against the amendment.
Highly-vocal MPs such as Dinesh Gunawardena, Bandula Gunawardena,
Wimal Weerawansa and Namal Rajapaksa were among those who finally
said yes.
As the debate on the 19th Amendment continued for the second day with
23 speakers taking the floor and little incident in the Chamber, frantic
backroom negotiations spearheaded by President Sirisena himself took
place till late evening, to gain consensus on amendments proposed by the
SLFP.
Several party leaders meetings took place throughout the course of the
day and President Sirisena also met separately with the UPFA Parliamentary
Group to try to gain a consensus.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes team were finally forced to agree to
the SLFP proposal that the Constitutional Council be comprised of a majority
of members of Parliament. In line with Opposition demands, a compromise
was reached that the Constitutional Council would comprise four MPs and
three professionals, in addition to the Prime Minister, the Speaker and the
Opposition Leader ex officio.
Wickremesinghe told the House that both his party and the Tamil National
Alliance were firmly opposed to including MPs in the Council that will
recommend appointments to the independent commissions.
This amendment doesnt go as far as we want it to go, but it does go some
distance, the Premier said in his closing speech before the amendment
was taken up for a vote on the second reading.
We are a minority Government. We need the support of the Opposition in
order to get this amendment passed. So we had to compromise, the
Premier said.

The decision before the Government ultimately was whether they were
going to permit the passage of the 19th Amendment with the amendment
the SLFP was insisting on, or whether they were going to let the whole
amendment go.
Historic act
Wickremesinghe said President Sirisena had broken the perception that an
elected President would never give up power by his decision to present the
19th Amendment.
He has done something historic. At one point President J.R. Jayewardene
told me that once someone gets this office it will be very difficult to get him
out. He told me we would simply have to wait until the term limits expire,
he quipped.
Eight amendments proposed by the SLFP were thrashed out by the sixmember committee appointed by the President on 27 April and whittled
down to two on which the Government and the Opposition could not reach
agreement.
President Sirisenas Constitutional Advisor Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne
led a team of lawyers helping MP representatives to draft changes to the
amendment to achieve consensus. Attorney General Yuvanjana
Wijeyatillake was also on hand to iron out legal issues in line with the
Supreme Court determination.
Throughout the proceedings, UPFA MPs were arguing in the House that the
powers of Parliament could not be arrogated to individuals who were not
elected representatives, with regard to the Constitutional Council.
The SLFP is opposing this provision that allows the appointment of
professionals to the Constitutional Council because outsiders cannot be
given Parliaments powers, Minister T.B. Ekanayake told the House.
He also urged the Parliament to stop opposing provisions with the mistaken
perception that the draft amendment was targeted at specific individuals,
especially the sitting Prime Minister.
Ranil Wickremesinghe is only the current Premier. His name is not written
in this amendment, we must look at this intellectually, Ekanayake said.
UPFA MP Sajin Vaas Gunewardane also told the House that the Opposition
would vote for the 19th Amendment but only while ensuring the
sovereignty of Parliament was protected.
UPFA MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage charged that the UNP was trying to

put what he called NGO-wallahs into the Constitutional Council.

DNA MP and former cricket skipper Arjuna Ranatunga told the House that
this could be the final opportunity to pass this kind of legislation. We may
never again have a leader who is willing to give up his own powers this
way, Ranatunga said during his speech.
Political analysts and civil society groups hailed the passage of the 19th
Amendment as a victory for the people since it boosted democracy and
good governance.
Parliament was adjourned until 19 May 2015.
Posted by Thavam