Politics · Sri Lanka Bureau
Bar Association urges MPs to vote freely on constitutional amendment
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has called on political parties to allow their parliamentarians to vote according to their personal conscience on the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. The association says MPs should be free to speak and cast votes without party pressure.
LSN Sri Lanka ·
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has issued a statement urging all political parties represented in Parliament to grant their members the freedom to vote according to their individual conscience when the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution comes before the legislature.
In its appeal, the BASL emphasized the importance of allowing parliamentarians to exercise independent judgment on constitutional matters. The association called upon political parties to refrain from imposing party discipline on MPs when the proposed amendment is debated and voted upon.
The 22nd Amendment has been the subject of significant political discussion in recent months, with various stakeholders expressing differing views on the proposed constitutional changes. The BASL's intervention reflects concerns within the legal community regarding the need for principled parliamentary deliberation on matters affecting the nation's constitutional framework.
The statement represents the association's formal position that constitutional amendments of this magnitude warrant individual rather than collective party-line voting, allowing each MP to contribute their personal legal and ethical perspective to the legislative process.