Sri lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to implement the 13th Amendment would be taken up after the next parliamentary election and asserted that finding a solution to the vexed Tamil issue remains a priority for his government.
Speaking to top newspaper editors and media heads at the Presidential Palace here, three days after Modi’s historic visit to lanka, Sirisena said he will call a parliamentary election after adopting the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which will be presented in the Parliament next week. This would mean that Sri lanka would hold the parliamentary poll after April 23 as pledged in Sirisena’s 100 day programme.
Sirisena said finding a solution to the ethnic Tamil issue remains a priority for his Government. The 19th Amendment seeks to reduce the terms of office of the President to five years, instead of the current six years and unlimited term.
Other possible provisions that could be included in a 19th amendment would limit the powers, given to provincial councils under the 13th constitutional amendment (13A), by which they exercise control over the police and over related land issues.