Major political parties of Sri Lanka agree to creates a Executive Prime Minister position

The two major political parties of Sri Lanka, the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the United National Party (UNP) came to an agreement today to create an Executive Prime Minister position that is responsible for the Parliament.


A UNP parliamentary group headed by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the UPFA group this evening at the Temple Trees to conduct a special discussion centered on the constitutional amendments that are to be brought soon.
According to the government sources, the parties have held a lengthy discussion and reached an agreement on a proposal made by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent party of the UPFA, to the All Party Committee on an Executive Prime Minister post responsible to Parliament.
The discussions were cordial and lasted about an hour, Presidential Media Unit said.
President Rajapaksa has pointed out that the present Executive Presidency is a marginalized post and should be converted into a portfolio that can interact and collaborate with the Parliament.
The parties agreed to make the Cabinet responsible for the appointment of officials to institutions operating under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. A committee comprising representatives of both parties should reach consensus on the implementation of Cabinet's choices.
The opposition party also called for a clarification on the strategy to be adopted at the forthcoming local government polls. President Rajapaksa has assigned Ministers Dinesh Gunawardena and Basil Rajapaksa for making clarifications.
Along with the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, Deputy Leader of UNP Karu Jayasooriya, Chairman of UNP MP Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, MP John Amaratunga and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauf Hakeem comprised the opposition delegation while Ministers Maithripala Sirisena, Susil Premajayantha, Prof. G.L Peiris, Dinesh Gunawardena, Dullas Alahapperuma, and Basil Rajapaksa joined the President in discussions.