Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has determined that a private member’s bill seeking amendments to the provincial council elections law is not inconsistent with the constitution provided that amendments are made to two of the bill’s clauses.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announcing the court verdict told parliament on Tuesday June 06 that, subject to the proposed amendment to clause 3 and deletion of clause 4 of the bill, the court has determined that the bill or any of its provisions is not inconsistent with the constitution.
The bill, submitted by opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) legislator M A Sumanthiran as a private member’s bill, was challenged in terms of Article 121(1) of the constitution, with counsel for the petitioners claiming that the bill, if enacted, would affect the voting rights of the people.
Clause 3 of the bill reads:
The provisions of the Provincial Councils Elections Act, No. 2 of 1988, as was extant on 21st September, 2017, shall for all purposes be deemed to be and to have been in operation as if the same had not been amended by the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act, No. 17 of 2017.
Clause 4, which the Supreme Court has determined should be deleted is as follows:
Any act done or purported to have been done after 22nd September, 2017, in terms of the Provincial Councils Elections Act, No. 2 of 1988 is deemed to have been done, mutatis mutandis, in terms of the Provincial Councils Elections Act, No. 2 of 1988 as was extant on 21st September, 2017.