``In the coming days I propose to make a series of suggestions for desirable changes in the election system that can form the basis for a public debate. We have to identify a series of interim measures pending constitutional changes,'' said justice and constitutional affairs minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris at a briefing on Thursday.

He said the government needed to ensure that the April 1 election `will be held without the blunders of the past', but indicated legislation in the form of constitutional amendments may not be immediately possible. Such amendments can be made only after a two-thirds vote in Parliament and a referendum, he said.

The credentials of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and her government have come under flak from opposition parties, the national media and independent groupsafter the January 25 election in the north-western province of Waymaba.

Peiris said on Thursday that the fault lay not with just with system but the country's political culture. However, he said, the government would `not adopt an ostrich-like attitude' to the incidents.

Kumaratunga's coalition won the election but the victory was tainted by charges that the polls were rigged using government machinery. Since then, there have been demands from both opposition and government members for a change in the country's election system.

``If by rectifying the electoral system we can take a few steps to rectify the problem, we will certainly do that. We propose to take note of the gravity of the situation in a spirit of candour and suggest certain practical ways to approach the problem,'' said Peiris.