It will be the last opportunity to adopt the amendment when parliament debates it on April 27 and 28, said foreign affairs deputy minister Ajith P. Perera at a media briefing.

Both the UNP and the SLFP are making an attempt towards is passage, but ‘Ali Baba and the 40 thieves’ are disrupting it, he charged.

If the 19th amendment is not passed by next Tuesday, there will be no future for the present government, and the president will have to dissolve parliament, said the deputy minister.

It will be the country’s misfortune, if his belief that the SLFP MPs would support its passage, is not realized, he said.

This is not an issue of the UNP, SLFP or the JVP, but it will be unfortunate for the entire country that such an important transformation could not see its implementation, BBC Sandeshaya quoted him as saying.