COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Mahinda Rajapakse to run for a third term in office, saying the constitution can be changed by a vote in parliament, officials said Tuesday.

Rajapakse, who oversaw the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels last year after decades of civil war, has a firm grip on power in Sri Lanka and has been criticised for crushing dissent and opposition media.

He looks set to gain the two-thirds majority among lawmakers needed to pass the proposed law, which will end the current two-term limit on presidents.

The draft bill will be debated and voted on by the 225-member parliament on Wednesday.

Rajapakse won a second term in January but would have to step down in 2016 under the present constitution.

"The Supreme Court has said the Constitutional Reforms Bill does not require a referendum in order to be passed, instead it only requires a two-thirds majority in parliament," Speaker Chamal Rajapakse, who is the president's elder brother, told lawmakers.

Rajapakse came to power in 2005 and won his second presidential term on the back of the defeat of the separatist Tigers rebels in May 2009.

His bid to change the constitution and remain in office has been criticised by rights groups and opposition parties.

"The amendment is seen as marking the end of liberal democracy in Sri Lanka," the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said on Tuesday.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said the constitutional changes paved the way for "autocratic rule."

The amendments also increase the president's power over public institutions and allow him to appoint people to key posts in the judiciary and police.

"They are intended to perpetuate the authoritarian rule under the facade of constitutionality," said UNP lawmaker Harsha de Silva.

The head of the Sri Lankan Anglican church, Bishop Duleep de Chickera, said he feared "a speedier, destructive erosion of our already fragile democratic culture."

Rajapakse has scoffed at the criticism and vowed to carry on in his job until a stronger opposition candidate emerges.

His government has also been accused of grave human rights abuses and war crimes in the closing months of the civil war when thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in fighting.

Source-AFP