Sri Lanka: Chamber Writes to Justice Minister for Justice

The Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Vish Govindasamy, has written to Wijedasa Rajapakshe, Minister of Justice, Constitutional Affairs and Prison Reform, Here is the full text;uProposed 21st Amendment to the ConstitutionWe appreciate the efforts taken by you to expedite the process of gaining approval from Cabinet to place before the Parliament, the 21st amendment bringing back salient provisions of the since repealed 19th amendment to the Constitution. The Chamber has considered the draft that was presented to the Cabinet and believes that the proposed amendments contain many positive features that will help to improve the governance framework in the country, meeting the expectations of the public to some extent.

However, we feel that it can be strengthened further with a few more amendments necessitated by past learnings and current context to meet the aspirations of the people, including the business community, who are seeking a 'system change' to the manner in which this country is governed.It welcomes, in particular, the proposal to re-establish the Constitutional Council and to re-activate the independent commissions previously introduced through the 19th amendment.

The proposed amendments to curtail the excessive powers granted to the President under the 20th amendment are also seen as a step in the right direction towards transforming the role of the President to a non-executive position. We endorse, in particular, provisions that have been introduced to ensure that the President acts on the advice of the Prime Minister not only in the appointments of officers that are contemplated by the amendment but also in the removal of those officers.

We also endorse the importance of having only Sri Lankan citizens (and not dual citizens of Sri Lanka) to sit and vote in Parliament.The Ceylon Chamber notes a few areas in which further amendments can be made to make the governance process even stronger.

Set out below are the same for consideration by...