Sri Lanka Parliament Passes Bill Curbing Presidential Powers

(Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka’s parliament voted in favor of a bill to clip the powers of the president in a bid to calm public anger that climaxed with the ousting of former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa who led the South Asian island nation to its worst economic crisis since independence.

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After a two-day debate, initial vote and brief discussions on the sections of the proposed legislation, 174 of the 225-member parliament endorsed the so-called 22nd amendment. That’s a step forward in efforts at political reforms to curb sweeping powers granted to the president and make the position more accountable to the legislature.

The amendments were at the heart of plans by current President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who depends on the support of lawmakers in Rajapaksas’ still-in-power Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, and is pushing for final approval of a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund program to help the island out of its economic malaise.

Some lawmakers allied to the Rajapaksa family had been clamoring to scale down the legislation by wresting back power to the president, delaying the date on which the executive could dissolve parliament and allowing dual citizens to hold positions in government. They had even been calling for scrapping the amendments altogether in favor of drafting a new constitution.

Both moves would have helped ease a political comeback for the family that dominated the nation’s politics for two decades. Rajapaksa allies were hoping the tactics would also delay national elections -- another key demand of the opposition and protesters -- buying the former president and his family more time to regroup.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa broadened the executive powers of the president shortly after coming to power in 2019.

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