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19A requires referendum: Nimal
Referring to the 19th Amendment, Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva said the government appeared to have introduced some constitutional provisions which warrant approval by people at a referendum.
Soon after the Prime Minister presented the Bill, Mr. de Silva said the government initially pledged to introduce constitutional amendments to be enacted in Parliament with a special majority, without resorting to a referendum.
He said it was now apparent that the government had deviated from this pledge and introduced certain provisions that warrant a referendum.
"The government should be prepared to face any such eventuality. Certain clauses of the bill overlap each other," Mr. de Silva said and urged the Prime Minister to introduce legislation to enact electoral reforms simultaneously with the constitutional reforms.
"We are for the enactment of both as part of the same exercise," he said.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said it was a matter for the Supreme Court to determine, as several applications had already been submitted to the SC on the Bill.
He said the Attorney General had been consulted on this matter.(KB & YP)
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