News
 		 

Constitutional amendments in stages
Despite problems in forming a government, President Chandrika Kumaratunga is pushing ahead with plans to introduce an interim constitution, SLFP sources said. For this purpose, the President has appointed a committee of constitutional experts headed by constitutional lawyer Jayampathi Wickramaratne who is also tipped to be appointed as a National List MP.

The sources said the President who has retained the portfolio of constitutional affairs was thinking in terms of amending the constitution in stages, with priority given to the abolition of the executive presidential system and a structural change in the electoral process.

They said this first stage would not look at the issue of devolution of power or the nature of the State. Those issues would be taken up when President Kumaratunga resumed the peace process.

To prepare for the constitutional changes, the UPFA has launched a media campaign, claiming it has virtually got a two-thirds majority from the people because it won 106 of the 160 electoral divisions and 14 of the 22 districts at the April 2 general elections.
Top  Back to News  

Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.