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.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said he is “hopeful”, the parliament to be elected later this year, will introduce a new constitution, one which will “meet the aspirations of all the peoples of Sri Lanka”.

Speaking in parliament during a debate on the 19th Amendment, which is due to be voted on later today, the foreign minister said “democracy, rule of law and human rights, reconciliation and ethnic harmony must be the foundation for the new Sri Lanka we all dream about.”

“Whether it is the tensions between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities or the Sinhalese and Muslim communities, eradicating the motivation for terrorism and violence requires us to go beyond dealing with its symptoms. The root causes of ethnic conflict need to be addressed once and for all, constitutionally,” he said.

Sri Lanka has to hold a credible investigation in order to clear the name of the Sri Lankan military, which stands accused of committing mass atrocities against Tamils during the armed conflict, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said in parliament today.

The minister said, despite years of aggression and alienation towards the international community, the government has managed to return Sri Lanka to the “centre stage” of international affairs, signified by the announcement of the visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry.

But Mr Samaraweera warned that Sri Lanka must not lose sight of its “national obligations”:

“To refrain from opening up our nation to international ignominy and making ourselves once again vulnerable to intrusive external interventions, we must initiate a credible domestic investigation into allegations of violations of human rights,

“Such developments are important also to clear the name of our armed forces who have received international recognition as a professional and disciplined force,” he said.