South Asians for Human Rights

Promoting Democracy, Upholding Human Rights

Sri Lankan parliament passed the 18th amendment to the constitution by 161 votes to 17 when it was debated in the house on 8th September 2010. The amendment which was presented as an ‘urgent bill,’ giving the general public only 72 hours to petition the Supreme Court for the purpose of arguing that the Bill has any infringement with the constitution, was approved by the court. Only the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) voted against the bill.

The report reviews the business of parliament from July to September 2010. These are the months in which the government held discussions with opposition parties to discuss constitutional amendments while conducting back room negotiations with MPs to secure a two thirds majority in parliament.

For more of the report, click here