Chandrika sets deadline for UNP on Bill

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, AUG 11. Sri Lanka's next Parliament, for which elections are to be held soon, could be converted into a Constituent Assembly in which constitutional amendments can be passed by a simple majority.

The President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, told State-run television in an interview tonight that if the Opposition United National Party (UNP) did not offer its support to the Constitution Bill by August 24, she would convert the next Parliament into a Constituent Assembly in order to have it passed.

The Constitution Bill was put on hold earlier this week after the Government, failing to muster two-thirds support for it in Parliament, sensed defeat and decided not to put it to the vote.

A two-thirds majority is impossible for any party under the present election system, and the ruling People's Alliance, though confident of victory in the coming elections, is quite sure it would not obtain enough numbers to make up two-thirds in the House.

Under powers granted to the President in the 1978 Constitution, she can convert the House into a Constituent Assembly, but needs a people's mandate to do so. From her statement today, it is likely that she would ask for such a mandate in the coming elections.

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Section  : International
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