Executive Council for the next presidential elections
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Two factors might have prompted the JVP/NPP to announce its Presidential candidate at this juncture. One is the speculations among the Opposition parties that President Ranil Wickremesinghe is planning to bring in an Amendment to the Constitution enabling him to conduct the next Presidential election before the period specified by the Constitution. In spite of a President elected by the people having the right to seek a second mandate after the completion of four years of his tenure, the Constitution, not leaving any room for doubts, states that a succeeding President - a President who has been appointed by the Parliament for a vacancy created by the death or resignation of another President - does not have that right. Hence, Wickremesinghe, if he abides by the Constitution, cannot hold the next Presidential election before October next year. It is against this background speculation doing their rounds that President Wickremesinghe was planning to amend the Constitution all...