22nd Amendment Bill an attempt to manipulate election process: Lawyers’ Collective

Colombo, July 16 (Daily Mirror) -  The Lawyers’ Collective, a prominent legal advocacy group in Sri Lanka, criticised the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill as an attempt to manipulate the electoral process. 

The Lawyers' Collective reiterated that there is no urgency whatsoever in lowering the upper limit of the terms of the President and Parliament and it urges all democratic forces to oppose it.

The Lawyers' Collective observed that the proposed amendment could well be an attempt to scuttle the electoral process by unnecessarily complicating matters. 

The Lawyers' Collective issued this statement shortly after the granting of Cabinet approval to the 22nd amendment to the Constitution. 

The Lawyers' Collective stated that the legal effect of this amendment would be that a bill that seeks to extend the term of office of the President or the duration of Parliament to over five years would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament and the approval of the people at a Referendum. 

This bill seeks to amend present Article 83(b), according to which the maximum period to which such term or duration can be extended without a 
Referendum is six years.

"If the proposed bill is passed in Parliament by a two-thirds majority, the President must direct the Election Commission to hold a Referendum, which must be held within thirty days. Thus, the country will be burdened with two parallel national elections, one happening soon after another, creating chaos. A Referendum will cost several billion rupees, while the Government says there is no money for local government elections," the Lawyers' Collective statement added.

On behalf of the Lawyers’ Collective a group of President’s Counsels Upul Jayasuriya, Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, Dinal Phillips, Dulindra Weerasooriya, Anura Meddegoda, Saliya Pieris, S.T. Jayanaga, Nalin Dissanayake, Chandra Jayasekare, Upul Kumarapperuma, Prof. Savitri Goonesekere, Prof. Deepika Udagama and several other attorneys signed the statement.