If governtment wants to introduce 20A we will support it: Faiszer

If this alliance is to win the forthcoming polls, President Sirisena must be the undisputed candidate of the alliance

If the government is keen to introduce the 20th Amendment to the Constitution to free the country from the negative aspects of the 19th Amendment, the UPFA and SLFP would support it with one voice, former Minister Faiszer Musthapha said yesterday.

To do that a consensus among all parties in Parliament is necessary and the government must initiate that process to introduce the 20th Amendment before the Presidential polls, Mr. Musthapha added.

“When rulers in other countries and in Sri Lanka aspired to increase power, it was only President Maithripala Sirisena who agreed to have his presidential power reduced through the 19th Amendment. He also restored, the rule of law, independence of the media and the judiciary and established independent commissions by constituting the Constitutional Council (CC). But the 19th Amendment created two leaders leaving governance in utter chaos,” he said. Mr. Musthapha said incumbent President Sirisena is the frontrunner for the post of President and the SLPP and Mahinda Rajapaksa has no option but to nominate him as their Presidential candidate as it would herald in a progressive alliance that would unite all smaller and minority parties with three main parties, the SLPP, UPFA and the SLFP. “If this alliance is to win the forthcoming polls, President Sirisena must be the undisputed candidate of the alliance. To be successful at elections, we must also identify who our common enemy is and bring all progressive forces together to fight the common enemy and ensure victory,” he stressed.

Pics by Waruna Wanniarachchi.