 | | | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Campaign to abolish exe. presidency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An opposition political party in Sri Lanka has launched a campaign to abolish the executive presidency. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) urges President Mahinda Rajapaksa to honour a pledge given to the party in 2005 and not to call for another presidential election. Mr. Rajapaksa, then the prime minister, signed a 12-point agreement with the JVP in September 2005. “The Executive Presidential System being most destructive and harmful to the democracy of Sri Lanka and having accepted its abolition as an essential priority task, it is hereby agreed to terminate the Executive Presidential System before the end of the tenure of office of the 6th Executive President which is to be commenced from the year 2005,” the relevant paragraph in the agreement said. Leafleting campaign The JVP in return supported his bid to become Sri Lanka’s executive president in November 2005. President Rajapaksa has since implemented many points agreed with the JVP.
JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva told BBC Sandeshaya that the party urges the president to honour his pledge related to abolishing the very powerful post. “It is the responsibility of Mr. Rajapaksa to honour that pledge. It is also in line with his Mahinda Chintana policy,” he said. He vowed to continue leafleting campaign ‘until the executive presidency is abolished’. The executive presidency was introduced in Sri Lanka by the United National Party (UNP) led government in 1978. The JVP that regularly opposed the very powerful post also supported the tenure of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga. The main opposition, UNP, and some minority parties that supported the post from the beginning are appear to be changing their policy. | LOCAL LINKS  Court orders to arrest MP29 April, 2009 | Sandeshaya Chandrika Mahinda row over JVP deal09 September, 2005 | Sandeshaya Sri Lankan PM gets JVP support 08 September, 2005 | Sandeshaya PM agrees to Scrap P-TOMS05 September, 2005 | Sandeshaya JVP- PM policy agreement05 September, 2005 | Sandeshaya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Executive Presidential System being most destructive and harmful to the democracy of Sri Lanka and having accepted its abolition as an essential priority task, it is hereby agreed to terminate the Executive Presidential System before the end of the tenure of office of the 6th Executive President which is to be commenced from the year 2005
