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| Sunday, 13 February 2005 |
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No determination in legal profession -BASL President by Rohan Mathes Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President Ikram Mohamed in an exclusive interview to the Sunday Observer at his Colombo residence last Friday, responded aggressively to his critics who allege that the quality and standards of the legal profession has been undermined during the last five years and therefore he should be contested and ousted from his post at the next BASL elections scheduled for February 16. "I totally disagree on those unfounded allegations against me. The members who have joined the bar during the last five years have been from rural areas and Maha Vidyalayas. I don't know whether these allegations are based on this. However, I am sure that they are very high in quality and they maintain the highest standards. The quality has not deteriorated during the last five years as alleged. Furthermore, I don't know how the five year period has been placed by the critics", he claimed. He explained that according to a healthy and established tradition of the Bar, the President is permitted to continue for a second term in office uncontested. This undoubtedly facilitates the continuation of projects started by the President, intended solely for the welfare and benefit of the Bar Association. "One year is not sufficient. If the President is changed each year, he would not be able to concentrate on such projects for more than 8 to 9 months. This would drastically distract and hamper the progress of the BASL", noted Ikram Mohamed. Furthermore, he argued that a BASL President who has held office for two years earlier loses his right to contest again, as per the traditional practice of the Bar since 1974. "Unfortunately, this time the long-standing tradition is to be broken by a very senior lawyer of the Bar. I don't know why"? he asked. |
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