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Sri Lanka is looking to deprive the president of power in the midst of anxiety over the economic crisis

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Reuters

Reuters

Uditha Jayasinghe

Colombo — Thursday, the Sri Lankan government reduced the president's power, strengthened anti-corruption power, strengthened stability, and caused by He proposed to amend the Constitution to alleviate his anxiety. The country's worst financial crisis in decades.

The island of South Asia with a population of 22 million is running out of fuel to find enough US dollars to pay for important imports such as food, cooking gas and medicine. I've been struggling for months.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has given important posts to his relatives and blamed the financial crisis for being late in seeking relief from the IMF, is under long-term pressure to resign. He said he was going to stay. His term continued until the end of 2024.

Two of his brothers resigned as Prime Minister and Finance Minister after several weeks of street protests.

The amendment, drafted on Thursday, set up a Constitutional Council and nine independent committees to improve governance. The Commission works to promote human rights, strengthen audit and oversight of government agencies, and strengthen anti-implant investigations.

The proposed amendment may be submitted to Congress in July, Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe said last week. Further changes may be made before the bill is finally passed.

However, critics say the amendment is not advanced enough to address the protesters' demands.

"Current attempts are at best tokenistic and cannot meet people's explicit demands for the unprecedented crisis and system changes facing Sri Lanka," said Bavani, Principal Investigator at the Policy Center. Fonseka says. Alternative, Colombo-based think tank.

Mr. Fonseca said that this amendment allows the president to blame the parliament at any time, and other powers, including the ability to dismiss his ministers, are only available during the next presidential term. He said it would be reduced.

On the other hand, the economic situation is still dire.

Inflation rose to 54.6% in June, the highest since 2015 from 39.1% in May. Food prices rose 80.1% and shipping costs rose 128% as the Sri Lankan currency depreciated and inflation surged globally.

However, the International Monetary Fund reported on Thursday that it had constructive talks with the Sri Lankan authorities and hopes to be able to give preliminary approval of the credit line soon. (Report by Uditha Jayasinghe, edited by Mark Heinrich)