Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa resigns as MP Thursday was not surprising given the unfavorable public mood of him and the rest of his family, including his brothers, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. But what was surprising was that it took him a month to step down after unprecedented violence in Sri Lanka. The violence was the result of an attack on peaceful anti-government protesters by supporters of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), who were running a “Go Home Gotta” campaign. [Gotabaya Rajapaksa]”On the country’s worst economic crisis. Needless to reiterate that Basil Rajapaksa, regarded as the SLPP’s livewire, was considered in some circles to be one of the people responsible for the attack on the protesters. His political departure came at a time like this.” has come in, while efforts are on to achieve it Cabinet approval for the proposed 21st constitutional amendment, which aims to empower Parliament over the acting Speaker, in addition to preventing those holding dual citizenship from entering the legislature. Basil Rajapaksa, who holds US citizenship, may also have been affected and may have realized it.
The development should provide relief to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has been batting for significant changes to the constitution. Needless to say, he wants a complete restoration of the 19th Amendment, which was adopted by Parliament in April 2015 when he was prime minister; Maithripala Sirisena was the President. Gotabaya Rajapakse, who assured his country days after the violence that he would take steps to amend the constitution to bring back the 19th Amendment, must honor his promise. They should not be influenced by voices within the SLPP that the economic agenda should be given priority over the political agenda of constitutional amendments. The two agendas are so intertwined that the government’s performance in terms of the political agenda will create a conducive environment for the international community to consider investing extensively in Sri Lanka. The President, who has said he wants to complete the remaining two-and-a-half-year term, should take this into account and facilitate Mr. Wickremesinghe’s work in rebuilding the troubled economy. One should not forget that the 19th Amendment, when it came into force, had no bar for the then President Maithripala Sirisena from carrying out a constitutional coup. This is the reason why the demand to abolish the post of Executive Chairman assumes significance. Abolition may still have a long way to go, but in the event of passage of the proposed 21st Amendment, the experience gained can be used constructively by all stakeholders to further the goal of bringing back the parliamentary form of government. should go. Existed in Sri Lanka for 30 years after independence in 1948.