Sri Lanka opposition SJB battles crisis as 8 defectors back 20A

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan opposition groups have criticized the amendments to the constitution that strengthened the powers of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and took away parliament’s role in making key appointments such as judges and the police chief.

Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) National List MP and general secretary, said the party had decided to expel from “our parliamentary group members who voted in favor of the 20th Amendment, despite the party’s stand against it, effective immediately.”

He added on Twitter: “Further disciplinary action will follow.”

Five MPs of Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), Leader Mano Ganesan and P. Thigambaram, V. Radhakrishnan, M. Velukumar, M. Udhayakumar voted against the 20th Amendment to the constitution. The TPA contested the August Parliamentary elections on the SJB lists.

Colombo district MP Sajith Premadasa,  Opposition Leader in parliament, is also the chief of the SJB.

TPA leader Mano Ganesan said that Aravindakumar from the Tamil Progressive Alliance had been suspended for supporting the amendments in parliament on Thursday.

Some SJB MPs wore red arm-bands in protest in parliament during Thursday’s debate.

According to The Associated Press, Harsha de Silva, an opposition MP from Colombo, said the Rajapaksa administration was pushing Sri Lanka in the direction of an autocracy.

“I voted against (the bill) to protect democracy in Sri Lanka,” Silva said in a tweet.

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Colombo-based think-tank Center for Policy Alternatives, said the amendments are meant to be temporary with a new constitution proposed within six months.

But till a new constitution or further amendments are enacted, power will remain concentrated with Rajapaksa with limited checks and balances, he said.

The new amendments were passed by parliament late on Thursday with a two-thirds majority after a raucous two-day debate.

The government has argued that strengthening the president’s powers was required for better governance.

Under the new law, Sri Lanka’s president will have the power to dissolve the 225-member legislature any time after it crosses the half-way mark of its five-year term.