20A amended as per religious leaders’ wishes – Prime Minister

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said since the Government has decided to amend certain Clauses in the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution, in keeping with the wishes of the Buddhist clergy and other religious leaders, there is no reason for those who truly value the forward march of the country to refrain from casting his or her vote to ratify the much talked about Bill.

The Premier made these remarks during a meeting with the SLPP Parliamentarians at the Parliament Complex, yesterday (20). Rajapaksa maintained the new Bill had been mooted to remove most of the harmful clauses contained in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

He stressed that approval of the Cabinet and Government Parliamentary Group was received for the new Bill. He further expressed his optimism that the Government would be able to ratify the controversial Bill with a two-thirds majority in the House.

(Source: Ceylon Today – By W.K. Prasad Manju)