Sri Lanka's Joint Opposition this week called for the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa to be allowed to contest for president once again despite the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which imposes a two term limit.
"If the people wished to elect Mr Rajapaksa as the president again, the opportunity should be given, irrespective of the number of presidential terms," the JO MP Indika Anuruddha was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
"It was useless to hold a presidential election by keeping the best player aside and added that it was not necessary to obtain the opinion of the courts with regard to this matter."
“There are many cases in courts already. The people’s will and opinion should be considered with regard to this and the government parties can decide on it. The government is attempting to do the same with Mr Rajapaksa which happened to the late Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in the 1970s. The government should do away with its poor policies,” he added.
Earlier this week Mr Rajapaksa said he was in the process of finding out if he could contest again.
“There is an opinion that I can contest again, we need to find out if I am eligible,” he was quoted by Colombo press.
Legislation was passed three months after Mr Rajapaksa was unseated in January 2015 under the 19th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution, which states “No person who has been twice elected to the office of President by the People, shall be qualified thereafter to be elected to such office by the People”.
However, Sri Lanka’s former Foreign Minister G L Peiris, and other supporters of Mr Rajapaksa have reportedly sought to seek the Sri Lankan Supreme Court’s opinion on whether the legislature can be applied retrospectively.
Mr Rajapaksa remains hugely popular amongst Sinhalese voters, with his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party sweeping local polls in the south of the island earlier this year. His party has, amongst other pledges, vowed to repeal the Office on Missing Persons, if re-elected.
