Cabinet to discuss 20th Amendment to the Constitution

The Cabinet will take up the 20th Amendment to the Constitution with proposals for a new electoral system when it meets on 13 May 2015.

The amendment, was taken up in the Cabinet on 29 April. Moves are underway to change the PR system into a hybrid of PR and first past the post system and to increase the number of seats in parliament. The 20 Amendment envisages a 255-seat Parliament with each polling division having at least one representative in Parliament. 196 members will be elected on a first-past-the-post system and a district-based proportional representation (PR) system. The remaining 59 members will be from the National List. There will be some multi-member polling divisions returning two or three victors. For a party to be eligible for a seat or seats from the National List, the party should obtain at least one percent of the total votes polled. However, the number of National List seats will between 20 and 35 with each party having to nominate a minimum of 35 candidates for National List seats. A delimitation commission will decide on the number of electorates with multi-member electorates proposed for Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Kandy, Kurunegala, Ratnapura, Colombo, Gampaha, and Galle Districts.