By President Ranil Wickremesinghe received a strong response from President’s Counsel Jayampathy Wickramaratne, who was accused of inexperience.
The President apologized on behalf of Jayampathy Wickramaratne and his team for a lapse in drafting the previous constitutional amendment.President Wickremesinghe stated that Article 83(b) of the constitution, which references a six-year term, was left due to a lapse by the drafting team headed by Jayampathy Wickramaratne.
In a stern tone, Jayampathy Wickramaratne countered that the article referring to a six-year term remained by design, not by oversight.
“The Cabinet sub-committee to oversee the Nineteenth Amendment was headed by Premier Wickremesinghe, and he had the opportunity to correct any errors,” Wickramaratne said.
“Presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena signed a memorandum of understanding with a group of 49 political parties and organizations headed by the Venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha Nayaka Thero at Viharamaha Devi Park, in which he pledged to abolish the Executive Presidency altogether,” Wickramaratne explained.
