The Tamil National Alliance says it will only support the 20th Amendment to the constitution, which abolishes the executive presidency, if the resolution to the ethnic conflict is also proposed.
TNA spokesperson MA Sumanthiran said according to The Island: "We support the abolishing of the executive presidency. This system was introduced in 1978 and ever since it has lead to a lot of problems. In 2015, President Sirisena promised to scrap the post. Just like this the ethnic problem has created issues in Sri Lanka. A lot of people have died because of this. So equal attention should be paid to solving this as well."
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa also supports the abolishment of the executive presidency, provided that parliament is dissolved on the same day in order to hold a general election. Currently Rajapaksa is barred from contesting the presidency as the 19th Amendment imposes a two-term limits on office holders. See more in The Hindu.
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