Sri Lanka: Amendment bill gets two - thirds majority

Ada Derana
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The 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka was passed in Parliament with a two-thirds majority a short while ago. It was passed with 161 members voting for and 17 against, while the main Opposition UNP members were not present in the House during voting time.

The six UNP MPs, Abdul Cader, Earl Seneviratne, Upeksha Swarnamali, Nimal Wijesinghe, Lakshman Seneviratne and Manusha Nanayakkara who crossed over to the Government side this evening voted for the amendments. Digamadulla District Tamil National Alliance member P. Piyasena too voted in favour defying the party decision to vote against. UNP Nuwara Eliya District member Sri Ranga voted in favour while sitting with the Opposition.

Apart from the UNP members who supported the amendments, the rest were not present at voting time. Among the Tamil National Alliance members, several were overseas though the party had taken a stand to oppose the Bill in Parliament.

© Ada Derana