Dilrook Kannangara

Since introducing the current constitution in 1977, no less than 21 constitutional amendments have been made so far. Three (3) more attempts were made that ended in failure and another attempt by the name of the 22 Amendment is currently underway. None of these was for the benefit of the nation or the people. All constitutional amendments were for the short-term benefit of politicians in power.

The current 22 amendment is a totally useless exercise. It is being paddled now to postpone the presidential election, increase cost and waste taxpayer funds and to make a mockery of the democratic process. It must be defeated. Any parliamentarian who votes in favor of the useless 22 amendment is a traitor who has no regard for democracy, the people or the nation. They must not be re-elected to parliament.

What the nation wants now is a presidential election followed by parliamentary, local government and provincial council elections that were postponed indefinitely.

The current constitution was introduced by JR Jayawardhane and his relatives including Ranil consider it to be their private property. Funnily enough the current constitution when introduced was called the ‘Democratic Constitution’. There is nothing democratic about it.

One of the first tasks of the next government should be to totally replace the current constitution with a new one. The new constitution must also allow the Supreme Court the ability to review passed legislation for consistency against the new constitution and strike down any passed laws that were found inconsistent any time after their passage if duly challenged by anyone.