Your Editorial October 3rd under the above caption, recounts strategies adopted by the SLFP during earlier Presidential Elections. Candidate Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1994 promised to scrap the Executive Presidency to keep the JVP from contesting. And again in 2005 Mahinda Rajapaksa, the then Prime Minister, made the same promise with the added assurance to reduce the size of the cabinet.

On both occasions, the promises and assurances were hardly ever mentioned after the elections were over. Other routine concerns like COL, the war against LTTE, took prominence to such an extent that one would suspect that it was with the covert understanding of both sides.

To be frank, the ordinary men is not at all interested. The intricacies involving the powers of the Executive President are far beyond his grasp. In fact it is so even with academies, politicians and various other self styled pundits. The sad thing being that the otherwise unconcerned person is misled to believe that something beneficial and long overdue is going to happen.

A number of legislators, (Ministers and MPs), have expressed their opinions from both sides of the House since about 1994 and strongly suggested that Executive Presidency be reviewed and its powers reduced or abolished by vesting executive power back in Parliament. Though this has been the general viewpoint of all, nothing productive by way of follow up action has occurred. This again suggests some covert arrangement - like match fixing in cricket.

Also several of the articles on this subject have pointed out that any change in the Executive Presidency will require a special majority vote in Parliament followed by a referendum. How such requirements can be met is the question considering the present tendency to change loyalties and parties for the flimsiest of reasons (excuses really). All that is required is for about 30 or 35 MPs to oppose, or later campaign against it at a referendum, and the attempt is sure to fail. Even those for change are certainly not unanimous in their stipulation of details; they vary from one extreme to the other. For instance the Constitutional provisions of Amendments 13 and 17 cannot be excluded when the powers of the Executive President is considered.