September 20, 2002	Friday	Rajab 12, 1423

COLOMBO, Sept 19: Sri Lanka’s government proposed a constitutional amendment to parliament on Thursday, seeking a curb on presidential powers that it says is crucial to a push for peace with separatist rebels.

The bill would take away the authority of the country’s president, currently Chandrika Kumaratunga, to dissolve parliament.

“The president has said in a letter to the speaker (of the parliament) she will not use her power,” government spokesman Gairuka Perusinghe said. “We just want to legalise what the president has already indicated.”

The president is elected separately from the government.

The government and rebels concluded their first peace talks in seven years in neutral Thailand on Wednesday. Hopes are high that the Norwegian-brokered bid can bring an end to nearly two decades of conflict.

But the Tigers have expressed concern that Kumaratunga, a political rival of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, will derail the process by sacking the government if she is unhappy with the outcome of talks.

“...The President’s executive powers continue to pose a latent threat to the United National Front government — and by extension, the peace process,” the London-based Tamil Guardian, a rebel mouthpiece, said in its editorial on Wednesday.—Reuters