Sri Lanka’s parliament voted to implement the 19th Amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution to curb the powers of the executive presidency, after strong resistance from a section of the SLFP forced the government to compromise on the make-up of the proposed Constitutional Council.

The amendment reintroduces a two-term limit for the president and restores independent bodies to manage institutions such as the police and judiciary, whilst also removing the president’s power to dissolve parliament until it has completed four and a half years of its five year term.

212 MPs, including Namal Rajapaksa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Wimal Weerawansa, voted for the amendment, while ten MPs, including former Premier D.M. Jayaratne and Basil Rajapaksa, were absent.

The 19th Amendment was watered down to ensure that former ruling alliance supported the vote.

Photographs: Tamil Guardian

Jaffna University students, on Monday, protested against violent crackdowns on Tamil students in recent weeks. 

On Saturday, 9 students were attacked by a group of people wielding swords in Jaffna, resulting in 3 students being submitted to hospital. One students hand was amputated as a result of the attack.

The three students, Muralitharan, Rajeepan and Jepradharshan were all admitted to hospital with severe injuries.