Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has said that certain powers vested through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution should be reconsidered before being implemented.

He made this statement during the cabinet media briefing held on Thursday.

“We proved through the last election that the 13th Amendment can be implemented. We can implement it immediately. However, a problem arises when we implement all sections of the amendment. A constitution is not something that is permanent; it can be changed many times. The current government has accepted that handing over police powers proves to be an issue of national security. We are looking into the possibility of whether we can hand over at least some police powers,” the minister said.

Journalists also questioned Minister Rambukwella on statements made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jeyaram, following her meeting with the Indian Prime Minister.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is capable to maintaining a government by themselves,” he responded. “Whether Jayalalitha joins him or not, there is no issue. We believe that our stance is stronger than this because Narendra Modi has been able to establish a strong central government. We should not use definite terms in politics. She has used the word genocide. This is very wrong. We believe that it is creating a wrong image of us in the democratic world.”

• CID to record statements from 7 MPs regarding 9th May violence
• Ajith Rajapaksa : Elected as Deputy Speaker of Parliament via Secret Ballot
• Parliament split over the vote on Deputy Speaker; SLFP threatened to cast invalid votes
• O/L Admission now ONLINE
• NO O/L related lectures from today (17)