Sri Lanka President orders gazette publication of 22nd amendment to the constitution

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered the publication of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution via a Gazette notification.

On Thursday (July 18), Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe instructed his ministry’s secretary to delay the publication of the Gazette notification until after the Presidential Election.

The Justice Minister explained that this decision was made to remove uncertainty about the timing of the election.

The amendment changes paragraph (b) of Article 83 of the Constitution, reducing the President’s term from “to over six years” to “to over five years”.

The Lawyers’ Collective, a major legal advocacy group in Sri Lanka, criticized the 22nd Amendment, calling it an attempt to manipulate the electoral process.

They stated that the amendment would require any bill seeking to extend the President’s term or Parliament’s duration to over five years to have a two-thirds majority in Parliament and public approval through a Referendum.

The Lawyers’ Collective argued that there is no urgency to lower the term limits of the President and Parliament and urged all democratic forces to oppose the amendment.