The government party leaders who met last evening at a special meeting chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss changes to the 13th Amendment have decided to present the proposed amendments in the form of a Special Cabinet Paper to the Cabinet meeting to be held tomorrow (6), government sources said.
Two amendments are expected to be presented to the Cabinet tomorrow. Accordingly, the constitutional clause that requires the consent of all nine Provincial Councils in order to amend the Constitution will be changed and the consent of the majority of the Provincial Councils would be suffice in order to make future amendments to the Constitution.
Also, the merger between two Provincial Councils would be unconstitutional under proposed amendments. Accordingly, an existing constitutional clause on the merger between two provinces would be removed from the Constitution.
The party leaders have also extensively discussed land and police powers, some of which have been delegated to the Provincial Councils, under the existing provisions of the 13th Amendment.
The President has proposed that a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) be set up in order to reach an agreement on the matter.
The President has also insisted that irrespective of a possible boycott by the UNP and the TNA, a PSC should be appointed in order to discuss the changes into the 13th Amendment, the sources added
CT
