August 24, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Saani 14, 1423

COLOMBO, Aug 23: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has sought “suggestions and advice” from the People’s Alliance (PA) of President Kumaratunga for proposed amendments to the constitution which envisage the abolition of the executive’s powers to dissolve parliament and allowing legislators to vote according to their conscience.

The premier made this offer during a meeting with a group of PA MPs on Wednesday.

The meeting, described by government sources as cordial, focused on the need for putting an end to the current trend of confrontational politics and ugly scenes witnessed recently in parliament.

According to MP Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, who attended the meeting, Mr Wickremesinghe promised to send them a copy of modified draft proposals.

“If the final amendment meets with the requirement for consensual politics I see no reason why we should not support the government,” Fernandopulle, a minister in the previous People’ Alliance government, said.

He said a number of PA legislators believed that President Kumaratunga’s decisions sometimes rebound to the detriment of the party.

“There was also severe criticism by some of our MPs over the decision to target individual ministers for no-confidence motions rather than the government as a whole.”