August 1997 Features The Referendum By Dr. N. M. Perera A Referendum for enacting a new Constitution has been the talk of the last week.
Some pundits say no.
A former Minister of Finance and leader of the LSSP, Dr. Perera obtained his PhD and DSc, from the University of London. Chapter XIII of the 1978 Constitution introduces an innovation into our constitutional system the Referendum. In some countries an amendment to the Constitution has to be submitted to the final verdict of the people, a referendum without so denoting it. In general, it is recognised that every parliamentary Bill on every minor issue need not go through the referendum process. Only important bills like amendments to the Constitution, and Bills on major issues of policy should be subjected to referendum procedure.