Members of the Purawesi Balaya urged all parliamentarians to cast their votes in favour of the 20th Amendment to the constitution, to be presented to abolish the Executive Presidency soon.
Purawesi Balaya Co-convener Gamini Viyangoda said it is the duty of all parliamentarians to vote to abolish the Executive Presidency.
“There is a timely and burning need to introduce a Parliamentary system instead of the Executive Presidency,” he said.
He said that from 1994, all Presidents won power on the promise of abolishing the Executive Presidency once elected, eventhough none of them had taken the effort to abolish it. The Executive Presidency (EP) is a hindrance to the well-being of democracy, he said.
“The EP should be abolished and a parliamentary system to be implemented instead,” he said.
Prof. Sarath Wijesuriya said the President and the Prime Minister promised to abolish the EP in 2015 prior to the Presidential Election. Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne said the EP is not suitable for a country with several ethnicities.
He added that EP is not democratic and it is against the democratic system. As a result of the EP, power is centralised among corrupt people, senior lecturer Chandraguptha Thenuwara said.
Add new comment