Colombo, August 30: Sri Lanka’s cabinet is backing a change in the country’s constitution that will allow the current president to run for a third term in office.
“The cabinet backed a move to amend the constitution,” an official at the president’s office said Monday on condition of anonymity, AFP reported.
The way is now open for a vote in the country’s parliament, but any amendment must also be approved by the Supreme Court.
If approved, President Mahinda Rajapakse could stand again in elections, which will be held in November 2016.
Rajapakse has a firm grip on power and it seems he has enough support in the parliament to secure a two-thirds majority.
He came to power in 2005 and won a second presidential term in January 2010.
The Sri Lankan leader also oversaw the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, which ended decades of civil war. The Tamil Tigers had sought autonomy for minority Tamils.
He has also been criticized for crushing dissent and opposition media.
On February 2010, Amnesty International called on Sri Lanka to put an end to its crackdown on opposition supporters and news outlets after the presidential elections.
—Agencies