Cabinet nod for third term for Rajapaksa

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government has approved lifting the two-term limit for Presidents in a move that would allow incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa to run for office again, an official said on Friday.

Rajapaksa, 64, came to power in 2005 and has increased his grip on power since defeating the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year, after nearly four decades of bloody ethnic conflict.

The President’s family holds key positions in the island, with three brothers taking the roles of Defence Secretary, Speaker of Parliament and Economic Development Minister. His son was also elected to Parliament in April.

The Cabinet endorsed the statute change on Wednesday, a spokesman for the government information department said.

“These proposals are to be brought before Parliament as an urgent bill,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court would be asked to decide on their constitutionality.

Rajapaksa’s second term ends in November 2016 and the existing laws prevent him from running for office again.

His United People’s Freedom Alliance won 144 seats in the 225-member Parliament in the April elections, but has the support of Opposition defectors to secure the two-thirds majority needed to approve the proposed amendments.

‘India to engage Lankan Tamil parties’: India plans to invite Sri Lankan ethnic parties, including the pro-LTTE TNA, for parleys to resolve the Tamil issue in the country, a media report has claimed, prompting the main Opposition party to seek a clarification from the Mahinda Rajapaksa government.

News website asiantribune.com has claimed that India would be directly inviting Sri Lankan Tamil political parties to New Delhi for one-on-one talks.

“There is a talk that India will invite minority parties for discussions on the Tamil issue. We are hopeful of such meetings but no parties have got any invitation in this regard yet,” a Muslim party leader said.