'Abolishing Presidency Controversial'

Suraj Bandara

If the executive presidency is to be abolished after the Presidential Election, the procedure would be quite controversial and not as easy as some political parties feel, Dr. Jayatissa de Costa told a media briefing at the Information Centre yesterday.

He stressed that some political parties without pragmatic thinking and knowledge of the legal framework of changing the executive presidency have come to the fore calling for abolition of the executive presidency.

The most obvious fact is that though several political parties have allied together to abolish the executive presidency no alternative has been given. The disparity has already begun between the common candidate and the JVP over the 13th Amendment. This clearly indicates that this is a political strategy to hide their political bankruptcy, he added.

In a situation where he has not even one political representation is not in the Parliament how can Sarath Fonseka abolish the executive presidency, he questioned.

Costa said that the requirement to abolish the Executive Presidency system depends on the general election rather than Presidential Election. Reform of the electoral system first, is needed to have a majority in the Parliament and abolish the executive presidency.

Gomin Jayasiri said Sarath Fonseka is the least eligible individual in the political arena since he hasn't forwarded his personal political vision yet. Much of the problems relating to the presidency, stem from the tendency to abuse presidential powers.

The remedy lies in effectively checking these abuses and not in transferring this power to somebody else. Though the total immunity has been given to President he is also responsible to Parliament. Therefore what we should do is to amend the executive powers and continue the same with slight changes in the constitution, said S.L. Gunasekara.