Can the Executive Presidency be abolished only through a new Constitution?
Two statements, one question
On 19 December 2025, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya stated that:
“It is not possible to abolish the Executive Presidential system without introducing a new Constitution.”
Prime Minister’s Office Website
On 28 May 2022, former Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe made a similar claim:
“The executive presidential system can only be abolished by enacting a new constitution.”
Sunday Lankadeepa
The statement made by the former Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe has been tested against the Constitution and Supreme Court determinations. We assessed the 2022 version of this claim and found it did not hold up.
1) What does the Constitution allow Parliament to do?
Sri Lanka’s Constitution gives Parliament the power to amend, repeal, or add constitutional provisions through the amendment procedure. Some changes require:
- a special majority in Parliament, and
- a referendum, where the Constitution requires it.
2) What has the Supreme Court said?
The Supreme Court has rejected the argument that certain “core features” of the Constitution are automatically beyond amendment, where itself provides a route to amend them.
In short, even major constitutional change can be done by amendment—if the required thresholds (including a referendum where applicable) are met.
CONCLUSION
Abolishing the Executive Presidency by amendment is complex because presidential powers appear across multiple Articles.
But complexity is not the same as impossibility.
Draft bills have previously attempted to abolish the system by amending all linked provisions.
Read the full fact-check here.
This post is also available in: English