The government ally and Buddhist monk party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) rejected the government's proposed 19th amendment to the constitution as a "constitutional coup", stating that the proposal were aimed at taking power away from the executive president, and making the prime minister powerful.

“The people elected President Maithripala Sirisena with a mandate to curb the arbitrary powers of the Presidency and not to make the Prime Minister the Head of the Government nor allow Parliament to override the Executive. The Prime Minister can be made the Head of the Government only if approved at a referendum,” the JHU General Secretary, and Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying on Tuesday at a press conference in Battaramulla. 

Sri Lanka's cabinet on Sunday approved the draft bill on the 19th Amendment to the constitution, amending powers vested with the executive president. 



Reforms will include the reduction of the president's term from six years to five years and transferring the power to dissolve parliament from the president to parliament itself.

Mr Ranawaka vowed that the party would gather support to defeat the amendment which was present to parliament today by the prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe.

The opposition party leader, Nimal Siripala de Silva, said that such an amendment would require a referendum.