Prof. G.L.Peiris, former Sri Lankan Foreign and Constitutional Affairs Minister, has said that if Lankan President Mithripala Sirisena is convinced that the Executive Presidency should be abolished, he should abolish it immediately and not wait until the end of his five year term.
Peiris was reacting to Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s statement on Wednesday that steps have been initiated to abolish the Executive Presidency and replace it with a parliamentary system, but the change will come into being only at the end of the current term of the President.
Peiris told Express on Thursday that he saw no reason why the Executive Presidency cannot be abolished immediately if the powers-that-be are convinced about its undemocratic nature. He foresaw the possibility of non-implementation at the end of the President’s term. Earlier, promises to do away with the Executive Presidency had not been kept, he pointed out. President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who initiated the move, had asked for grace time to implement the intended change.
Peiris said that there should be no difficulty in abolishing the Executive Presidency immediately because there is unanimity among political parties on it and there is a popular clamor for it too.
Peiris further said that President Sirisena had solemnly promised to abolish the Executive Presidency in his oration at the funeral of the Buddhist priest Ven.Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero, founder-leader of the National Movement for a Just Society. Significance of this lies in the fact that when the priest wanted to stand for the Lankan Presidency, he had declared that his primary objective was to abolish the Executive Presidency within four months of assuming office.
Asked if a referendum will be necessary, Peiris said that it will be imperative because what is sought is a fundamental change in the nature of the Lankan constitution. But given the popular clamor for the abolition of the Executive Presidency, endorsement in a referendum should not be difficult to get, he said.
(The New Indian Express)
