Sri Lanka constitutional reform ends two-term presidential limit

The constitutional ammendment that would allow Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse to stand for a third term gained the two-thirds majority in Parilament needed for it to pass on Wednesday. The Supreme Court earlier said the reform would not require a referendum, just approval by a vote in parliament.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse (centre) AFP

This amendment will end the current two-term limit set by the 1978 constitution allowing Rajapakse to run for president again in 2016.

The amendment also hands him greater control over the judiciary, police, election commission and central bank, previously quasi-independent institutions.

Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris and Plantations Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe justified the move by saying it is meant to rebuild the nation and ensure better governance.

The changes have been condemned by lawyers, rights groups, leading opposition figures and some religious groups, which see them as a setback for democracy.

The head of rights group Transparency International in Sri Lanka, JC Weliamuna, called the situation “dangerous” and said that Rajapakse, who has three of his brothers holding prominent public positions, now has “unlimited powers”.

He has been criticised for crushing dissent and opposition media and is accused of grave human rights abuses and war crimes.

Rajapakse came to power in 2005 and won his second presidential term thanks to his role in the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, after years of civil war, in May 2009.

National reconciliation is now seen as a priority after the war, which opposed the Sinhalese ethnic majority against the Tamil minority.

Rajapakse has repeatedly promised to heal the ethnic division, which analysts say would require a political solution that at least partly satisfies the Tamil desire for autonomy.

"He has the political power to do so, the question is whether he has the political will to do so," said Harim Peiris, a lawyer and a former presidential spokesman.