Read 20A bill twice before vote: Election watchdogs urge MPs

The civil society umbrella group “March 12 Movement” led by the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) urged Parliamentarians to read the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution twice before voting for it while expressing concerns on the dangers the bill posed for Parliamentary democracy.

“All those affiliated organizations and the March 12 movement, in general, observe that if the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution is passed in its present form, Parliamentary democracy lasted for decades as well as the sovereignty of the people associated with the citizens’ pride of the country will be shattered and the pattern of checks and balances that can be considered a hallmark of parliamentary democracy will collapse. At the same time, the absolute power of parliament to supervise fiscal oversight will also be lost,” a statement issued by MArch 12 movement said. 

It also noted that a key point reiterated in the last Parliamentary Election and concurrent election promise was not that such an interim Constitutional provision like what is now attempted to be established. 

Further, it indicated that the actual promise was to bring a new Constitution that carries out a total social and political reform. “No one was around who heard or reported was against such an overall Constitutional reform process. Against such a backdrop, such a serious disregard for the vitality of democracy, which has historically evolved in this country, is not a political intervention that can be easily ruled out.”

The movement also stressed that it does not recognize the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was established to defuse the existing conflict between a non-political public service and its allies, as a complete Constitutional reform that fulfilled the expectations as well. “The resulting controversies over the institutional structure and the functioning of the Constitutional Council are immense. However, the response should be to emphasize that such an innovative approach should not completely dismantle the power of each governing body and make those powers concentrated around an individual.” 

“Furthermore, it is our view that these new amendments will also reverse the optimal practice that Sri Lanka has so far achieved in the electoral process. The electoral democracy that Sri Lanka has recently acquired as a state in the exercise of parliamentary democracy will fade in the face of such unilateral amendments without allowing space to access to such practices again.”

The collective also added that the most decisive role in such an endeavor will be played by the newly elected or nominated Members of Parliament (MPs). All Members of Parliament who have been elected to the legislature on democratic principles under a competitive multi-party system should read this Constitutional Amendment twice. 

“These people's representatives also have the administrative and financial responsibility of the Republic of Sri Lanka. They also have a responsibility to demonstrate that they have such a proud power and social responsibility. One can only become a representative of a state with good governance by reading this Amendment to the Constitution twice and expressing one's own analytical and independent opinion.”
Member organizations of March 12 Movement includes PAFFREL, Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), Right to Life, Federation of University Teachers' Associations, Sarvodaya, and Sanasa Movement.