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The 19th Amendment (19A) to the Constitution of Sri Lanka was passed by the 225-member
Sri Lankan Parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...
with 215 voting in favor, one against, one abstained and seven were absent, on 28 April 2015. The amendment envisages the dilution of many powers of
Executive Presidency An executive president is the head of state who exercises authority over the governance of that state, and can be found in presidential, semi-presidential, and parliamentary systems. They contrast with figurehead presidents, common in most parlia ...
, which had been in force since 1978. It is the most revolutionary reform ever applied to the
Constitution of Sri Lanka The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව, Śrī Laṃkā āndukrama vyavasthāva, ta, இலங்கை அரசிய� ...
since JR Jayawardhane became the first Executive President of Sri Lanka in 1978.


Introduction

The amendment was a result of promise made by President
Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...
leading up to the 2015 Presidential Election. The main prospect of the amendment was to repeal the ''18th Amendment'' which gave the President extreme powers and to reinforce democracy in the country. It establishes a Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka) which will exercise some executive powers previously held by the President. The ''19th amendment'' restores many components of the ''17th amendment'' letting the Constitutional Council to set up the proposed Independent Commissions;


Drafting process

In early May 2013 the
Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...
Government had started drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, instead of six years for the President and unlimited term, to age 65, for the Chief Justice. According to the proposed amendment, there would be no limit, however, on how often a President could be re-elected. That drafted amendment had addressed National issues of power devolution and proposed to repeal land and Police powers vested with the Provincial Councils.
And by May 2013 then opposition political groups, diplomats and civil organizations like the People's Liberation Front or JVP,
Jathika Hela Urumaya The Jathika Hela Urumaya ( si, ජාතික හෙළ උරුමය, ta, ஈழ மக்கள் கழகம், often approximated in English as National Heritage Party) is a nationalist political party in Sri Lanka. The JHU was launched ...
,
Athuraliye Rathana Thero Venerable Athuraliye Rathana Thero ( si, අතුරලියේ රතන හිමි: born 5 October 1962), is a Sri Lankan Bhikkhu politician and a member of parliament. He is the only representative from Our Power of People's Party in the ...
of ''Pivithuru Hetak National Movement'', and Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero had proposed to change the Constitution back to a
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
style
Parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...
for the country to address various issues, especially the issues arisen by the 18th Amendment. The UNP had appointed a committee chaired by the
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
and former Bar Association President Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe to draft the constitution. The party also proposed as a novel system the Executive powers of the President to be exercised on political basis and to be subject to checks and balances. The proposals guaranteed the freedom of expression and the right to information. The UNP also proposed that the system of preference votes be abolished and the tenure of the Parliament and the Provincial Council fixed at five years. The Key-elements of the proposed Constitution were; # Restoration of the People’s Sovereignty # Legislature # Executive # Devolution of Powers # Judiciary # Good Governance # Participatory Democracy


History

Under the Soulbury Constitution which consisted of The Ceylon Independence Act, 1947 and The Ceylon (Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council 1947, Sri Lanka was then known as
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The Soulbury Constitution provided a parliamentary form of Government for Ceylon and for a Judicial Service Commission and a Public Service Commission.
Minority rights Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements ...
were safeguarded by Article 29(2) of the Constitution. The
Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
(The Viceregal Representative of the Queen of Ceylon, also Queen of the United Kingdom, as well as the other Commonwealth Realms, and therefore usually resident in London), the Senate and the House of Representatives exercised legislative power. The House of Representatives consisted of 101 Members, of which 95 were elected by universal suffrage and 6 were nominated by the Governor-General. That total number was increased to 151 by the 1959 Delimitation Commission and the term of the House was 5 years The
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...
Government set up a Joint
Select Committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...
of the Senate and the House of Representatives to consider a revision of the Constitution on 10 January 1958 but the Committee was unable to come to a final conclusion on account of the propagation of Parliament on 23 May 1959. A similar attempt by the Dudley Senanayake Government was failed due to such a propagation on 22 June 1968 too. The Senate consisted of 30 Members (elected 15 by the House and 15 by the Governor -General) was abolished on 2 October 1971.


Amendments to the 1946 Constitution

* 29 of 1954 on 06.07.1954 to amend section 29(2) to enable enactment of Act Nos.35 & 36 of 1954 * 35 of 1954 on 16.07.1954 to increase the number of Members to 105 for a specified period and to terminate the services of the then existing Delimitation Commissioners. * 36 of 1954 on 16.07.1954 to make provision for the election of Members of the House of Representatives to represent persons registered as citizens of Ceylon under the Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship) Act No.3 of 1949. * 4 of 1959 on 06.02.1959 to appoint a Delimitation Commission; to amend section 47 regarding delegation of power to Parliamentary Secretaries and to repeal Act Nos. 35 &36 of 1954. * 71 of 1961 on 30.12.1961 to include "Election judge" under section 55. * 8 of 1964 on 12.03.1964 to place the post of Commissioner of Elections in the Constitution and to make financial provision to conduct elections. * 29 of 1970 on 18.11.1970 to permit public officers (other than those in specified categories) to contest elections, and to make them eligible to be elected or nominated to the Senate. * 36 of 1971 on 02.10.1971 to abolish the Senate.


The Republican Constitution 1972: Ceylon became Sri Lanka.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...
came to office for the second time as Prime Minister in May 1970. Her United Front Government used the parliament as a Constituent Assembly and drafted a new Republican Constitution. It was promulgated on 22 May 1972. This Constitution provided for a unicameral legislature named the National State Assembly with a term of office of 6 years and Sovereignty was entirely vested in it. A nominal President with a term of office of 4 years was appointed as the Head of State by the Prime Minister, Head of the Cabinet of Miniaters responsible to the National State assembly. Ceylon was replaced by republic of Sri Lanka (Resplendent Island). this constitution contained a declaration of fundamental rights and freedom was amended on 11 February 1 975 to change the basis of delimitation of constituencies from 75,000 persons per electorate to 90,000 persons.
J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...
who came to office in July 1977 with a five-sixths majority passed the second amendment to the 1972 Constitution on 4 October 1977 and then Prime Minister Jayawardene became the first Executive President of Sri Lanka on 4 February 1978.


19th Amendment & the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka concluded on 7 April 2015 considering petitions filed in connection with the 19th Constitutional Amendment. The respective verdict was submitted to the President as well as the Speaker of Parliament. The 19th Constitutional Amendment Draft Bill was presented to Parliament by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on 24 March. Later 19 petitions were filed with regard to the new amendment. Five of them were filed for the amendment while 14 petitions were filed against it. A panel of Supreme Court Judges led by Chief Justice K. Sri Pavan started to consider the petitions on 4 March 2015. The other Supreme Court judges who sat on the panel were Chandra Ekanayake and Priyasad Depp. While presenting his submissions, the Attorney General told the court that the 19th Amendment could be passed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament without calling for a referendum. At that point, the Chief Justice pointed out that in the 19th Amendment the President is depicted as the symbol of national unity. Therefore, the Chief Justice stressed as the national flag is currently depicted as the symbol of national unity, replacing such a position with the President is disputable. The Chief Justice further questioned whether it curtailed the power of the President after the Prime Minister was named as the head of the Cabinet. Thereafter the Attorney General informed the Supreme Court that he would forward further submissions in writing to that regard. The Bill to this effect was presented to Parliament on 24 March. A special political party leaders meeting in connection with the proposed debate was presided over by the
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
Chamal Rajapaksa Chamal Jayantha Rajapaksa ( Sinhala: චමල් රාජපක්ෂ; Tamil: சமல் ராஜபக்ஷ; born 30 October 1942) is a Sri Lankan politician who was Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015. Previously ...
at the Parliament complex on 6 April 2015. Addressing political party leaders, Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa said that he would inform all political leaders whether the debate would be held on the following Wednesday and Thursday only after he received the Supreme Court’s decision with regard to the debate. Meanwhile, MEP Leader
Dinesh Gunawardena Dinesh Chandra Rupasinghe Gunawardena ( si, දිනේෂ් චන්ද්‍ර රූපසිංහ ගුණවර්ධන, ta, தினேஷ் சந்திர ரூபசிங்க குணவர்தன; born 2 March 1949) ...
said during the political party leaders’ meeting that the Attorney General had submitted a 12-paged amendment to the Supreme Court. He also said that the amendment submitted by the Attorney General was contradictory to that of the 19th Amendment presented to Parliament recently by the Prime Minister. He had then pointed out that they should be provided with an opportunity to express their views in Parliament. Former Minister
G. L. Peiris Gamini Lakshman Peiris ( Sinhala: ගාමීණි ලක්ෂ්මණ් පීරිස්, Tamil: காமினி லக்ஷ்மன் பீரிஸ்) (born 13 August 1946) is a Sri Lankan politician and academic. He was the ...
had also presented details in this regard and Opposition Leader
Nimal Siripala de Silva Nilenthi Nimal Siripala de Silva MP (born 6 September 1944) is a Sri Lankan politician currently serving as the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation and former Cabinet Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in 15th Parliament of Sri Lan ...
, former ministers Prof.
Tissa Vitharana Upali Tissa Vitharana (born 30 August 1934) is a Sri Lankan politician, former Member of Parliament and former cabinet minister. He is the current leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a member of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA ...
, D. E. W. Gunasekera and W.D.J. Seneviratne had also supported Professor Peries’ reasoning. However, Chief Government Whip and Minister
Lakshman Kiriella Lakshman Bandara Kiriella, MP (born 2 February 1948) is a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer. He is a Member of Parliament from the Kandy District, former Leader of the House of the parliament. Also he held office as Minister of Public Enterprise ...
said participants of the political party leaders’ meeting agreed to pass the 19th Amendment after it is debated on 9 and 10 April.


Challenges and legal validity.

Since the 19th Constitutional Amendment Draft Bill was presented to Parliament by Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...
on 24 March 2015, 19 petitions were filed with regard to the new amendment. Five of them were filed for the amendment while 14 petitions were filed against it. On 9 April 2015, the petitions were considered and the amendment was reviewed by a panel of Supreme Court Judges led by Chief Justice K. Sri Pavan and determined that it was consistent with the Constitution. While presenting his submissions, the Attorney General told the court that the 19th Amendment could be passed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament without calling for a referendum. The three-judge bench ruled that the ''Proposed Bill'' complied with the provisions of Article 82(1) of the Constitution but required to be passed by a special majority of the parliament as specified in Article 82 (5) of the Constitution and certain sections required to be approved by the people of the country at a general referendum. The Sri Lankan government had to change the bill several times in a bid to get the backing of parliamentary opposition parties and amended the relevant clauses and removed the sections that need a referendum before presenting it to parliament.


References

{{Politics of Sri Lanka navbox 2015 in Sri Lanka 19