19A - Don’t repeal but review: Karu

By Yohan Perera   

Former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya over the weekend requested the government not to repeal the 19th Amendment but to review it and rectify its shortcomings through a broad dialogue. 

“Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Mr. Jayasuriya said in a statement on Saturday.   

“Initiate a dialogue with every one of the shortcomings of the 19th Amendment unless it would be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, he said in the statement.   

“A new Constitution should represent the views and ideologies of all political parties, civil groups, experts and the people and it should be formulated through a dialogue of these groups,” he added.   

“The 19th Amendment was formulated after seeking the ideas of people as well as the experts and also through a broad discussion in Parliament. It was the UPFA headed by the then President Maithripala Sirisena which contributed to the formulation of this piece of legislation through providing most number of votes in the House for it,” he also said.