Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02COLOMBO1573
2002-08-26 10:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

Amendment limiting President's powers before

Tags:  PGOV CE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001573 

SIPDIS

FOR SA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL:
TAGS: PGOV CE
SUBJECT: Amendment limiting President's powers before
Parliament soon; PA divided; alternatives considered

Ref: (A) Colombo 1555

(B) Colombo 1551
(C) Colombo 1441

(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, DCM. Reasons 1.5
(b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001573

SIPDIS

FOR SA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL:
TAGS: PGOV CE
SUBJECT: Amendment limiting President's powers before
Parliament soon; PA divided; alternatives considered

Ref: (A) Colombo 1555

(B) Colombo 1551
(C) Colombo 1441

(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, DCM. Reasons 1.5
(b,d).


1. (C) Summary: A proposed amendment to limit the
President's power to dissolve Parliament and to permit
voting outside of party lines is to be considered this
week. PA representatives split on the amendment. While
supporting the amendment, minority parties still
concerned with some issues. Alternatives to the
amendment are still being considered. If the amendment
passes it may have a profound long-term effect on Sri
Lankan politics. End summary.


2. (U) The United National Front (UNF) is expected to
table the 18th Amendment before Parliament on August 29.
The amendment, as it is currently being discussed, will
strip the President's power to dissolve Parliament one
year after it was elected and will permit individuals to
vote outside of party lines (commonly referred to as
conscience voting).


3. (C) As recently as August 23, representatives of the
People's Alliance (PA) maintained that the UNF could not
get enough cross-over votes to pass the amendment (Ref
A). Harim Peiris, the Presidential Spokesman, assured
poloff that with the support of the minority parties
aligned with the PA the amendment would fail. As of
August 26, they are no longer as confident.


4. (C) The minority parties are divided on the issue.
Members of the TNA have stated that they will vote with
the UNF government in support of the amendment, despite
their reservations. K. Ponnambalam summed up TNA
concerns when he stated they did not support the
sections of the amendment concerning conscience voting,
but the TNA's distrust of the President was so great
that they had to compromise. As a counterpoint, Douglas
Devananda, Leader of the Eelam People's Democratic
Party, states that his party will vote with the
President. In addition, Devananda believes that the
amendment will have to be presented before the Supreme
Court, which will rule that the amendment must be put
before the people as a referendum. Desmond Fernando, a
highly regarded constitutional lawyer, confirmed that
the amendment will have to go before the Supreme Court,
but without seeing the final version of the amendment he
was unwilling to speculate on whether or not a
referendum would be needed. (Note: The constitution
gives explicit instruction on which issues need a 2/3
majority in Parliament and which a referendum to come
into law.)


5. (C) Despite the public debate on the expected
amendment, there is no guarantee that the version
finally submitted will match the contours of the current
debate. Milinda Moragoda, Minister of Economic Reform,
informed the DCM that the UNF might split the amendment
into two separate amendments. A.M. Hizbullah a PA MP
and Dayaratna of the Prime Minister's office, both state
that the President's and Prime Minister's
representatives are talking to each other about a
compromise amendment. (Note: This coincides with what
former Foreign Minister Kadirgamar told the Deputy
Secretary last week, Ref A.) Hizbullah believes that

SIPDIS
they will, of necessity, find a compromise amendment to
present to Parliament.


6. (C) Comment: Although much of the immediate focus is
on limiting the President's power to dissolve
Parliament, the possible inclusion of conscience voting
may have a more substantial change in Sri Lankan
politics. Currently party members are tied more to the
party leader than their electorate. If a person were
permitted to vote outside of party lines without being
expelled from parliament their responsiveness to the
community they represent may well increase. Having said
that, what the amendment will actually have in it is
still speculation, the only issue that almost everyone
seems to agree on is that Sri Lanka is not ready for
another election in the near future. End Comment.

Wills