• Securing two-thirds majority from current Parliament unlikely
• Former Presidents MR and MS in favour
• NPP says it is a tactic to delay elections 

By Kelum Bandara 
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is  reportedly behind the latest move to initiate action for the abolition  of the executive presidency ahead of the Presidential Election, but it is  unlikely to succeed given the inability to secure a two-thirds majority  from the current Parliament for such an exercise, Daily Mirror learns.  
Ms. Kumaratunga, along with the National Movement for  Social Justice spearheaded by former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has  approached some NGO and civil society activists to initiate a dialogue  to bring in new constitutional amendments for the abolition of the executive  presidency and transfer its powers to Parliament and the Cabinet.

It is  widely seen as an attempt to postpone the Presidential Election under  the pretext of constitutional changes.  Ms. Kumaratunga pledged to scrap the system when she sought  presidency for the first time in 1994. Since then, the successive  leaders promised to do it in their election campaigns, but nothing  materialized after coming to power.    

Already, former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena have agreed to scrap the executive presidency.  

However, the National People’s Power (NPP) said it is  opposed to the rushed abolition of the system with the elections on the  horizon.  

“This is just another gimmick to postpone elections. If we  win the presidential elections, we will scrap it. Before that, it is  practically impossible to secure two-thirds to do it in the current  Parliament,” NPP MP Vijitha Herath said.