The draft bill of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which was approved by Cabinet of Ministers, has been received by the Government Printer to be gazetted.

The relevant Extraordinary Gazette will be printed and issued today (03), according to the Government Printer Gangani Kalpana Liyanage.

The Cabinet meeting, chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, took place last evening (02).

Accordingly, the draft of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution was tabled in the meeting and subsequently approved.

It was then sent to the Government Printer for the publishing of the Gazette. The draft bill is expected to be tabled in parliament within the next two weeks. 

The proposed draft constitutional amendment reportedly seeks to remove all the provisions in the 19th Amendment except the right to information, limiting the term of office of the President and the duration of the Parliament to 5 years, and the number of terms a president can serve.

The Attorney General yesterday advised the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice that the draft bill of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution does not attract the holding of a referendum, in terms of Article No. 83 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The Attorney General had therefore informed the Justice Secretary that the bill may be enacted by the Parliament with a two-thirds majority of all members.