{"id":49577,"date":"2015-11-19T21:34:41","date_gmt":"2015-11-20T03:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=49577"},"modified":"2015-11-19T14:33:58","modified_gmt":"2015-11-19T21:33:58","slug":"after-abolition-of-executive-presidency-maithri-may-contest-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/11\/19\/after-abolition-of-executive-presidency-maithri-may-contest-again\/","title":{"rendered":"After abolition of executive presidency Maithri may contest again"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shamindra Ferdinando\u00a0Courtesy Island<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Presidential advisor Shiral Lakthilake yesterday said that there couldn\u2019t be any reason for President Maithripala Sirisena to refrain from contesting the next general election as his party\u2019s prime ministerial candidate.<\/p>\n

President Maithripala Sirisena heads both the SLFP and the UPFA.<\/p>\n

Having fulfilled the promises made in the run-up to the January 8 presidential poll, President Maithripala Sirisena could join the fray if the people wanted him to.<\/p>\n

Attorney-at-law Lakthilake was on live Sirasa political show Pethikada<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Responding to interviewer, Sripal Wanniarachchi, Lakthilake pointed out that President Maithripala Sirisena had assured the country that he wouldn\u2019t contest a presidential election again. The former UNP Western Provincial Council member pointed out that the President was young enough and had many years of politics in him.<\/p>\n

The attorney-at-law compared President Maithripala Sirisena\u2019s spearheading role in the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s ouster to that of English military and political leader Oliver Cromwell.<\/p>\n

Lakthilake stressed that except 13 and 17 Amendments to the 1978 Constitution, all other Amendments had been crafted to strengthen the executive presidency to varying degrees. Those who had backed Maithripala Sirisena\u2019a candidature at the January 8 presidential polls, had wanted the dictatorial executive presidency abolished. President Maithripala Sirisena\u2019s move was aimed at paving the way for a Constitution which would meet the aspirations of all communities, the presidential advisor said.<\/p>\n

In answer to another question, Lakthilake said that the proposed hybrid electoral system under the new Constitution would comprise the first-past-the-post and proportional representation system. Lakthilake stressed the importance of addressing the concerns of the smaller political parties as well as minority parties.<\/p>\n

The former Western Province member asserted that there wouldn\u2019t be another presidential election again.<\/p>\n

He asserted that the abolition of the executive presidency could lead to the emergence of executive premiership. An executive premier elected by the people would be answerable to the cabinet, Lakthilake said.<\/p>\n

Lakthilake lashed out at those who still wanted to be under an authoritarian ruler.<\/p>\n

Lakthilake pointed out that President Maithripala Sirisena and the government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had taken opposing views on some critical issues. Citing alleged Central Bank bond scam as one such disputable issues, Lakthilake said that President Maithripala Sirisena had subsequently intervened in the Avant Garde matter. Lakthilake compared the UNP-led government\u2019s response to the alleged Central Bank scam and the Avant Garde<\/p>\n

President Maithripala Sirisena had terminated all agreements between the Avant Garde Maritime Services and Defence Ministry-run Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Limited (RALL) thereby bringing the entire operation under the Navy, Lakthilake said.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the current developments in and outside parliament, Lakthilake asserted that President Maithripala Sirisena was taking steps to meet new political situation. He said that a new Opposition grouping had emerged though it wouldn\u2019t have a big role in parliament. The attorney-at-law said that the new grouping would have a much bigger role outside parliament.<\/p>\n

There were only four recognised political parties in parliament and the so-called joint Opposition wasn\u2019t among them, Lakthilake said, noting that the UNP had opted for a coalition due to its failure to secure at least a simple majority at the Aug. 17 parliamentary polls.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shamindra Ferdinando\u00a0Courtesy Island Presidential advisor Shiral Lakthilake yesterday said that there couldn\u2019t be any reason for President Maithripala Sirisena to refrain from contesting the next general election as his party\u2019s prime ministerial candidate. President Maithripala Sirisena heads both the SLFP and the UPFA. Having fulfilled the promises made in the run-up to the January […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}