Sri Lanka Parliament passes 19th amendment

Apr 28, 2015 (LBO) - Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Tuesday approved the second reading of the much awaited 19th amendment with a two third majority.



215 parliamentarians have voted in favor of the 19th amendment while Dr. Sarath Weerasekara voted against it.





Ajith Kumara was the only parliamentarian abstained from voting. Basil Rajapaksa, Premala Jayasekara, Keheliya Rambukwella, A Vinayagamoorthy, Ven Ellawala Medhananda, Jagath Balasuriya and Janaka Bandara were absent at the moment.



However it is yet to be passed through the committee stage and third reading.





During the committee stage, amendments may be moved to a Bill. Before taking the vote Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed the Parliament that they have reached a consensus on Constitutional Council.





As per the new consensus, the constitutional council will be comprised from Prime Minister, Speaker, Opposition Leader, seven parliamentarians and three external experts.



Updated