Sri Lankan Parliament on Wednesday passed a key constitutional amendment to lift a two-term limit for a president, paving the way for Mahinda Rajapaksa to run for a third tenure amid a split in the main opposition party which boycotted the proceedings.

The Constitutional Reforms Bill, referred to as the 18th amendment, was passed by a stipulated twothirds majority, with 161 votes in favour and 17 against it.

The amendment scraps the two-term limit for a president, and would allow Rajapaksa to run for a third time after his second tenure ends in 2016.

Rajapaksa, 64, swept back to power in January this year, riding high on the victory over the LTTE, and the amendment cements his grip over power in the country where deep social fissures continue to persist.

The main opposition, United National Party (UNP), boycotted the proceedings, even as six of its lawmakers and one from the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance supported the amendment.

The UNP MPs who crossed over to the government side are Abdul Carder, Upeksha Swarnamalee, Earl Gunasekara, N Wijesinghe, Lakshman Seneviratne and Manusha Nanayakkara. M Piyasena of the TNA also voted in favour of the amendment.

The vote was held a day after the Supreme Court backed Rajapaksa’s bid by ruling that the amendment could be enacted by two-thirds vote in parliament and that a referendum was not required for it.

This amendment needed a two-third majority in the 225 member House.

“We believe it (the amendment) will give us a strong leader to fast-track economic development after the war,” Prime Minister D M Jayaratne told parliament while introducing the bill this morning, following which a day-long debate was held over it.

Former Army Chief and opposition leader Sarath Fonseka denounced the proposed amendment, describing it as the “last nail in the coffin of democracy” and said whenever the bill is passed that will be a “dark day for democracy”.