Concerned by the current political deadlock coupled with growing public unrest, Sri Lanka’s Joint Business Chambers led by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) urged President Gotabaya Rajapakse to immediately initiate legislative action to repeal the 20th amendment to the constitution.
“The Joint Chambers are however concerned that the current political deadlock coupled with
growing public unrest could potentially derail the actions being taken to resolve the serious
economic crisis faced by the country, and that the absence of political stability could
significantly disrupt the successful and speedy completion of initiatives taken thus far.
Therefore, the Joint Chambers urge Your Excellency, as President, to immediately initiate
legislative action to repeal the 20th amendment to the constitution which contributed to
the present situation. This will be viewed as a historic positive development for this country
both from a political and economic perspective,” Joint Chambers said in a letter to President Rajapakse today.
They were confident that it would lead to a better balance of power between the Executive and the
Legislature along with the reintroduction of the Constitutional Council and other independent
Commissions that would lead to a more acceptable political framework that could help resolve
the current impasse.
“Once this is done through a consensual approach, we recommend that a bi-partisan national
government is established with the ability to support the economic management team to
steer the country out of the current economic crisis and resolve the continuing issues relating
to fuel, electricity, gas and other critical elements of the supply chain,” they noted.