Section 55: Constitution.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Section, Parliament may alter this Constitution. (2) A Bill for an Act of Parliament under this Section shall not be passed by Parliament unless— a) before the first reading of the Bill in Parliament the text of the Bill is published in at least two issues of the Gazette; and b) the Bill is supported on the second and third readings by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the Members of the Parliament. (3) A Bill for an Act of Parliament enacting a new Constitution or altering any of the following provisions of this Constitution, that is to say— a) this Section; b) Chapters 1, II and VI c) Sections 42, 43 (2), 52, 56, 74 (2), 75, 77, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 107, 108, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, 118, 126 to 134, 135, 141. shall not he submitted to the President for his assent and shall not become law unless the Bill, after it has been passed by Parliament and in the form in which it was so passed, has, in accordance with the provisions of any law in that behalf, been submitted to and been approved at a referendum (4) Every person who is entitled to vote in the elections of Members of Parliament shall be entitled to vote at a referendum held for the purposes of subsection (3) of this Section and no other person may so vote; and the Bill shall not be regarded as having been approved at the referendum unless it was so approved by the votes of not less than one-half of all such persons and by not less than two-thirds of all the votes validly cast at the referendum: Provided that in calculating the total number of persons entitled to vote at such referendum, the names of deceased persons, of persons disqualified as electors, and of persons duplicated in the register of electors, and so certified by the Electoral Commission, shall not be taken into account. (5) The conduct of any referendum for the purposes of subsection (3) of this Section shall be under the general supervision of the Electoral Commission and the provision of subsections (4), (5) and (6) of Section 40 of this Constitution shall apply in relation to the exercise by the Electoral Commission of its functions with respect to a referendum as they apply in relation to the exercise of its functions with respect to elections of Members of (6) A Bill for an Act of Parliament under this Section shall not be submitted to the President for his signature unless it is accompanied by a certificate under the hand of the Speaker of Parliament. (or, if the Speaker is for any reason unable to exercise the functions of its office, he Deputy Speaker) that the provisions of subsections (3) and (4) of this Section have been complied with, and every such certificate shall be conclusive for all purposes and shall not be enquired into in any court. (7) The provisions of subsections (2) to (5) inclusive of Section 55 of this Constitution shall not apply to a Bill certified by the Speaker under subsection (6) of this Section; and accordingly the President shall give his assent to any such Bill when presented for signature. (8) No Act of Parliament shall be deemed to amend, add to or repeal or in any way alter any of the provisions of this Constitution unless it does so in express terms. (9) Any suspension, alteration, or revocation of the Constitution other than on the authority of Parliament shall be deemed to be an act of Treason. (10) In this Section— a) references to this Constitution include references to any law that amends or replaces any of the provisions of this Constitution; and b) references to the alteration of this Constitution or of any chapter or Section of this Constitution include references to the amendment, modification or re-enactment, with or without amendment or modification, of any provision for the time being contained in this Constitution or chapter or Section thereof, the suspension or repeal of any such provision in lieu of such provision and the addition of new provisions to this Constitution or chapter or Section thereof, and references to the alteration of any particular provision of this Constitution shall be construed likewise. Office of Paramount