The Chief Prelate of the Kotte Sri Kalyani Samaggri Dharma Maha Sangha Sabhawa, Most Venerable Dr. Ittapana Dhammalankara Thero, says he will consult the Chief Prelates of the three main Buddhist chapters on the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution before conveying his views to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The Thero said he would also communicate his own position on the amendment to the President personally, Ada Derana reported.
The remarks came on Sunday, when representatives of the Dinana Dakuna Collective and Free Lawyers met the Chief Prelate at the Rukmale Sri Dharma Wijayaloka Maha Viharaya to brief him on the proposed amendment. The delegation included President’s Counsel Maithree Gunaratne, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe and former MP Saman Rathnapriya, among others.
The Chief Prelate said the matter would first be discussed with the chief prelates of the three chapters before his views were passed to the President.
Two days before the bill reaches Parliament
The intervention comes days ahead of the amendment’s arrival in the legislature. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said the 22nd Amendment Bill will be presented to Parliament on Tuesday, August 18, Daily Mirror reported on August 14. The bill would raise the mandatory retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 and that of Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65.
The clergy has already registered opposition. In early August the Mahanayake Theras wrote to the President describing the proposed amendment as unsuitable, a letter disclosed by Bar Association of Sri Lanka President Rajeev Amarasuriya and later confirmed by the prelates.
The same Dinana Dakuna Collective has been lobbying senior monks on the issue for more than a week, having met the Malwathu Chapter’s Mahanayake Thera earlier this month.
The amendment has drawn sustained opposition from the BASL, which has warned of legal action and called for a referendum, from opposition parties, and from international legal bodies including a UN special rapporteur.
Ada Derana did not report whether the Chief Prelate indicated a position for or against the amendment, and no timeline was given for the consultation with the three chapters.
