By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

Changes should be made to the existing Constitution to safeguard security, sovereignty, stability, and integrity of Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said yesterday.

Inaugurating the fourth session of the eight Parliament, President Gotabaya said electoral reforms were needed to ensure stability of Parliament and to ensure the direct representation of the people while preserving the positive characteristics of the proportional representation system.

“Even though elections can be won through numbers, an unstable Parliament that cannot take clear decisions and remain constantly under the influence of extremism is not one that suits the country,” he said.

“Success of a democracy rests upon the constitution. The 1978 constitution which has since amended 19 times, has given rise to many problems at the present time because of its inherent ambiguities and confusions. We can solve this problem through constitutional reforms that will establish a strong Executive, legislature and independent judiciary that can ensure the sovereignty of the people. The people of this country gave me a clear mandate at the Presidential election held on 16th November 2019. That mandate was granted because of the trust the people had in me. I, together with my Government, stand committed to honour the trust of the people and implement the programme of developing a prosperous nation that we promised to them,” the President said.

“Even though elections can be won through numbers, an unstable Parliament that cannot take clear decisions and remain constantly under the influence of extremism is not one that suits the country,” he said.

“Success of a democracy rests upon the constitution. The 1978 constitution which has since amended 19 times, has given rise to many problems at the present time because of its inherent ambiguities and confusions. We can solve this problem through constitutional reforms that will establish a strong Executive, legislature and independent judiciary that can ensure the sovereignty of the people. The people of this country gave me a clear mandate at the Presidential election held on 16th November 2019. That mandate was granted because of the trust the people had in me. I, together with my Government, stand committed to honor the trust of the people and implement the programme of developing a prosperous nation that we promised to them,” the President said.

He said people who elected him desired a profound change in the political culture.

“The people who elected me to office desired a profound change in the political culture of this country. They rejected political agendas founded on race. The majority of the people proved that it is no longer possible for anyone to manipulate and control the politics of this country by playing the role of kingmaker. I invite the politicians concerned to understand this reality. I call upon all to join together in the national undertaking to develop this country, and to reject the politics based on petty agendas that have sown division in our society in the past. We must always respect the aspirations of the majority of the people. It is only then that the sovereignty of the people will be safeguarded. In accordance with our Constitution, I pledge that during my term of office, I will always defend the unitary status of our country, and protect and nurture the Buddha Sasana whilst safeguarding the rights of all citizens to practice a religion of their choice,” he said. “This Parliament should become an exemplary institution where real issues of the people are discussed, where matters concerned with national policy are subjected to debate, and where the responsibilities of the legislature are duly fulfilled. The responsibility of ensuring that the Parliament once again becomes an institution winning the respect of the people lies with the Members who are in this House.”

http://www.dailymirror.lk