Sri Lankan President to Seek Direct Mandate From PeopleSri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has decided to seek a direct mandate from the people by way of a referendum on August 21 to change the constitution.At the proposed referendum Kumaratunga will ask the people if they agree with the proposal that Sri Lanka needs a new Constitution which is a nationally important and an essential requirement. In a communique issued late last night the government alleged that the main reason for the present crisis in parliament was the 1978 Constitution. Although the government had won more than two- thirds of the parliamentary seats at the last two elections that mandate was not properly reflected in Parliament due to the prevailing electoral system associated with he constitution. Earlier efforts by Kumaratunga were stalled through a lack of a two-thirds majority in Parliament which the opposition refused to accommodate. In another move to stall a joint opposition no-confidence motion signed by 115 members of parliament Kumaratunga prorogued parliament on Tuesday night till September 7. The ruling People's Alliance government was reduced to a minority of 109 seats in the 225-member Parliament on June 20 when its key Muslim ally the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress pulled out due to the dismissal of its leader Rauf Hakeem by Kumaratunga. Kumaratunga avoided a debate to extend the state of emergency regulations in Parliament and opted instead to adopt security measures through Prevention of Terrorism Act last week. |
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