by Rajan Philips-April 11, 2015, 1:35 pm
The government could not have hoped for a better gift for the traditional April New Year than the Supreme Court ruling on the 19th Amendment that was read out in parliament on Thursday. I was all set to write my piece under the title, "YahaPalanaya in trouble: Ranil’s arrogance, Maithri’s silence, and Opposition confusion," to meet my earlier than usual deadline in view of the New Year holidays. Then came the Supreme Court ruling and I was gladly forced to change the tone and substance of my articlefor the week. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has promptly and cleverly announced that the sections (six paragraphs in Clause 11 and one paragraph in Clause 26) of the Bill that will require the people’s approval at a referendum, as determined by the Court, will be dropped from the Bill so that the rest of the Amendment can be passed with the requisite two-thirds majority. And breaking his ‘silence’ in Polonnaruwa, President Sirisena has assured that the 19th Amendment will be passed on April 20 and parliament will be dissolved soon after. "The confusion and political uncertainty will end after we have a fresh parliamentary election", said the President.