Constitutional amendments will be made next month to enable President Mahinda Rajapaksa to take part in Parliamentary proceedings.
This will be one of a string of amendments from the first phase of the UPFA Government's constitutional reforms. Others include the deletion of a provision that restricts the term of a President to two terms. There will be no more restrictions.
Another is a string of changes to existing provisions in the 17th Amendment. This is to empower the President to appoint Chairpersons and members to the Election Commission, the Public Service Commission, the National Police Commission, The Human Rights Commission, the Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the Finance Commission and the Delimitation Commission.
The decision to make these constitutional changes was made at a meeting of leaders of constituent parties of the UPFA. National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa proposed that there should be provision for the President to take part in Parliamentary proceedings periodically. It was accepted unanimously.
Economic Development Minister and Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa told the Sunday Times, "the President's participation in parliamentary proceedings will be similar to the British question-time model, though not exact."
There, he said, the Prime Minister has its own question time that gave the MPs the opportunity to raise issues. "Here, both Government and opposition MPs will have the opportunity to ask the President questions on any issue and obtain answers. Such an exercise will not only strengthen democracy but also Parliament," he said.
In addition, it would also give the President an opportunity to make any formal statement on matters of public interest, he said. The Sunday Times reported exclusively last week that the Government would affect a series of constitutional changes. During a second phase, the Government proposes to introduce amendments to set of amendments will be decided upon.
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