University of Politics

UNP and JVP forget their attempts to impeach CJs

The third impeachment motion against a Chief Justice of Sri Lanka was submitted to the Speaker of Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa last week. A total of 117 Members of Parliament are signatories to the latest move to impeach a Chief Justice in Sri Lanka history.

Though some parliamentarians of the United National Party (UNP) shed crocodile tears, it was the UNP which had brought both the previous impeachment motions before. However, the UNP had been unsuccessful in both attempts as the party failed to follow proper procedure and gain support.

The first ever impeachment attempt against a Chief Justice of Sri Lanka took place way back in 1984. During his second term as the Executive President, the late J. R. Jayewardene moved his UNP to bring an impeachment and attempted to remove the then Chief Justice Neville Samarakoon.

Fifty seven UNP parliamentarians had been signatories to the second impeachment motion against a Sri Lankan Chief justice. More importantly, parliamentarian and former deputy leader of the UNP Karu Jayasuriya is said to be the first signatory at the last impeachment motion against the then Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva. Among the other UNP Members of Parliament who had placed their signatures in that document to impeach Sarath N. Silva were the present UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, ex-national organiser Ravi Karunanayake, former Speaker Joseph Michael Perera, Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, Jayalath Jayawardena, Gayantha Karunatillake and Chandrani Bandara.

Though the JVP makes a big hue and cry over the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, they too had supported the previous impeachment against CJ Bandaranayake’s predecessor, Sarath N. Silva. Many JVP parliamentarians too had signed the impeachment motion against Sarath N. Silva.

Amidst various views by the politicians and those in the legal field, there was an unscheduled meeting between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva at the humeral house of former Supreme Court Judge R.S. Wanasundara. Incidentally, it was the same day that the impeachment against CJ Bandaranayake was submitted to the Speaker.

Expressing his views on the current developments, the former Chief Justice has said that the Judiciary should honour summons from the Executive. “During my time, I had always obliged when I was called by the Executive for a discussion. Problems pertaining to the Judiciary and its development should be discussed with the Executive,” he told the President.

“One should not be mistaken with such meetings and the independence of the judicatory. Discussing these matters with the Executive for the betterment of the Judiciary and the independence of Judiciary are altogether different subjects,” he added.

In a recent newspaper interview, former Chief Justice Silva said the Judiciary worked in a cordial atmosphere and he never had any conflict with the Executive or the Legislature. “There was a ruling given by the then Speaker Anura Bandaranaike when there was an impeachment motion pending against me. It did not concern me in the least.

When I learnt that there was a petition before the Supreme Court, I asked it be dropped, in that if there was an impeachment, I would face it in Parliament. It was an attempt to sling mud at me,” he was quoted as saying.

Impeachment justified, confirms legal fraternity

Meanwhile, eminent members of the legal fraternity were of the opinion that the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice now handed over to the Speaker is totally justifiable, and above board.

Gomin Dayasiri, Attorney-at-law said that in the same way that an average citizen complaints to the police if harmed in any way, the government, when wronged, has the right to petition the legislature (Parliament) to obtain redress. He said this is precisely why there are constitutional provisions to take action against errant Supreme Court Justices and Chief Justices.

Jayatissa de Costa, senior Attorney-at-law was of the opinion that Parliament has the exclusive right to move against a Supreme Court judge. He said that the sovereignty of the people in the form of judicial power is exercised through Parliament by the judiciary.

He added that in any event, no Supreme Court judge can be got rid of arbitrarily, and that the constitution in Article 107 contains provisions about the process to be observed, under the heading of ‘independence of the judiciary'. The Chief Justice can hold office as long as there is no moral turpitude on his/her part or abuse of office, and a majority of the Members of Parliament can vote to impeach a Chief Justice, but this is only after a rigorous process that precedes with several steps to be observed before such action is taken.

No judge is above the law, that clearly sets out that judges cannot, as per the constitution, abuse the power of office. Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma invited all political parties to discuss the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake. Addressing the media yesterday, Minister Alahapperuma said the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice which contains seven charges was handed over to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa. “Speaker Rajapaksa will examine the validity of the charges and take action,” the minister said.

Alahapperuma said the government never wants to interfere with the judiciary and the motion was handed over to the Speaker based on allegations of misconduct against her. “This is not the first attempt to impeach a Chief Justice in Sri Lankan history.

During the period of R Premadasa and Ranil Wickremesinghe, we experienced incidents of this type,” he said. “Some people who said the attempt to impeach former Chief Justice Sarath N Silva was legal and can be done under the constitution, now say the attempt to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake is illegal. All political parties should discuss the issue and give their comments,” the minister said.

Chandrika admits her inability

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike has admitted that she was unable to bring a new Local Government Act to do away with the preferential voting system. Her ‘confession’ came when she met Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna at a function held at a temple in Attanagalle.

“The Government decision to bring a new Local Government Act is commendable. Honestly, I am happy to see that being passed," the former President said.

“The credit for that should go to Minister Basil Rajapaksa,” the Deputy Minister told the former President.

“I made many attempts to bring such legislation by amending the Local Government Act during my time. Hope you remember Lasantha. People such as you, Ashroff and many others extended their support. However, I could not do it at the end,” the former President Kumaratunga said.

“Even parliamentarians such as Lasantha even supported this time,” Minister Basil Rajapaksa said in responding to ex-President’s comments.

UNP Working Committee heats up

The UNP’s advisory council met last week under the patronage of Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Deputy Leader of the UNP, Sajith Premadasa, along with General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, Joseph Michael Perera and Gamini Jayawickrema Perera were present.

The advisory committee of the UNP discussed the appearance of former JVP parliamentarian Anjan Umma who obtained UNP membership. Umma, who was a prominent member of the JVP, left the JVP along with the current Minister Wimal Weerawansa and joined the National Freedom Front (NFF), Umma has done another political summersault in crossing over to the UNP.

The UNP AC also decided to appoint Niroshan Perera and Ajith C. Perera to look into the conduct of parliamentarians Palitha Range Bandara and Palitha Thewarapperuma whose party membership has been suspended for attending the controversial Hyde Park meeting of Sarath Fonseka.

Despite previous objections by Range Bandara, the UNP also decided to appoint S. Premasiri as the party organiser for Anamaduwa electorate.

On the very next day, there were heated arguments at the Working Committee meeting of the UNP held at the party headquarters Siri Kotha. Some members loyal to the three parliamentarians and two provincial council members whose party membership has been suspended for attending Fonseka’s meeting against the party ruling, voiced against the Working Committee decision.After presenting the Working Committee report, General Secretary of the UNP said that an equal number of members should be brought from each electorate for the party convention scheduled for December 6.

“Some electorates are permitted to bring 100 to 200 people to the convention. But the education services wing of the JSS is permitted to bring only five members,” parliamentarian Ranjith Maddumabandara said in raising his objections.

“I have ordered to form branch unions but most of them have not done so. Only 150,000 membership cards have been sold. Even at a time when the Local Government elections were held, branch unions and balamandala have not been set in some electorates,” the UNP leader said.

But Maddumabandara was not satisfied and kept stressing on his point. “Our party has so far held 53 conventions and this is going to be the 54th. I have so far attended 20 odd conventions. At the last conventions, equal opportunity of participation was given to all electorates, irrespective of the fact whether they have established branch organisations or balamandalayas or not. This is great injustice for our membership this time. When Colombo Mayor is permitted to bring 100 members to the Convention, a UNP parliamentarian is given only a quota of 20. If you are ken on setting up more branch organisations, you could do that next year,” Maddumabandara said.

Deputy leader Sajith Premadasa then stood up to voice in support of the five party seniors whose membership has been suspended for violating the Working Committee decision in attending Fonseka’s meeting. “There are problems which we could iron out through discussions. I admit that it is wrong to attending such meeting when the party had barred the membership of doing so.

But suspending their party membership is too harsh and we should be able to settle these issues through discussions,” Sajith said.

But party stalwart Malik Samarawickrema then objected to Sajith views. “No, it is not the case. We must have a disciplinary hearing against such violation of the party decisions. Several members of the Working Committee, including Lionel Epalawatte and Shamal Herath, supported Samarawickrema’s views and demanded party members who criticise the party and its leader in public.

Maithripala inspects Gampaha hospitals

The Government spends a colossal sum of money annually on the health sector, though poor patients have often been harassed due to routine trade union action ranging from doctors and nurses to paramedics and minor employees.Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has made it a habit of gaining first hand information to improve the country’s health sector. Last week, he made an inspection tour of Wathupitiwala Base and Gampaha General Hospitals.

The government’s policy is to develop all hospitals in state and provincial sectors, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.

“All hospitals in the public sector provide a free health service to the public. The government’s aim is to upgrade the standards of the country’s free health service, whether they come under the central government or provincial councils,” Minister Sirisena said during the tour.

The minister discussed the development process of these hospitals with their authorities and promptly solved some of key problems affecting the hospitals.

“While the country claimed to run 1,047 hospitals, only 47 of them come under the purview of the government . The other 1,000 hospitals are under the purview of the Provincial Councils. The central government has no intention of taking over any hospital. We only need to upgrade the country’s free health service.

The government has taken a number of measures,” the minister said.“Even though, I am the Health Minister, it is not possible for me to visit all the hospitals in the country. It is not practical as well.

The Provincial Councils should be held responsible regarding provincial matters,” the minister said. He said the assistance of Provincial Councils is important for the government to go forward with their development projects.

Floods affect day-to-day life

Heavy rains, floods and landslides crippled day-to-day life of most people in most parts of the island during the week. President Rajapaksa ordered officials to provide the maximum possible relief for those affected by the torrential rains throughout the country.

The President requested the Disaster Management Ministry to release unlimited funds to meet all contingencies, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said. Around Rs. 200 million has been allocated to provide relief and facilities to the people affected by the bad weather. Provisions made by subsidies during the recent drought were also being utilised to meet the present emergency, he said.

During the past two weeks, six people had died, 12 were injured and 18,590 families comprising 69,659 individuals were affected as a result of the bad weather. The President requested the Security Forces and the relevant departments to give priority to save lives and avert disasters in the current situationd.

The minister said they were able to reduce the number of deaths due to the dedicated action of ministry officials and staff . All leave in the disaster management offices and also of the security forces were cancelled and they performed their services round the clock, he said. The government took action to provide cooked meals from the very first day while, dry rations also were distributed. The policy of the government is not to let anyone go in hunger, he said.

Eighteen Districts were affected by the inclement weather, the Minister revealed. The government was prepared to deal with floods as it did with the drought. Already we are preparing for the next emergency. That is why our officers were able to take proper action to face the present situation, he said. Recently Colombo city went under water during a small downpour when the rain fall was 40 mm. However due to development projects of the government and renovating lakes and creating new lakes, clearing all canals and culverts the Colombo town was not flooded even when rain fall was around 160mm this time, he explained.

Around Rs. 8 billion was allocated to develop low lands by Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Low Land Development Authority and other relevant institutions. Funds were allocated to implement flood control in Jaffna, Panadura, Dambulla, he said. JICA funds will be allocated to prevent landslides in schools in the up country areas.

Rivers such as Kelani, Kalu, Nilwala, Gin were about to overflow. Power generating reservoirs have also reached spill levels. However, the Mahaweli reservoirs have not filled yet.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said over 70,000 persons belonging to over 18,600 families have been affected by rains, winds, landslides and floods during the past several days.

According to DMC reports, 6,248 persons belonging to 1,619 families are still in evacuation centres. Thirty seven evacuation centres had been established and two have been removed. Thirty five evacuation centres are still functioning.

Forty nine houses in Galle, Jaffna, Matara and Mannar have been fully damaged while 2,907 houses have been partially damaged. According to reports issued by the DMC 1,126 houses in the Mullaitivu district,842 houses in Jaffna district,654 houses in Kilinochchi district,108 houses in Trincomalee district have been partially damaged. The number of houses in Badulla, Vavuniya, Galle, Gampaha, Matale, Mannar, Matara, Jaffna, Nuwara-Eliya, Kegalle and Kurunegala were also partially damaged due to heavy rains floods and landslides. Around 23,894 persons have been affected in the Mullaitivu district.

They belong to 6,926 families and are from Oddusudan, Mariumepattu, Manthal EastThunukkai and Puthukudirippu. Around 16,419 persons belonging to 4,357 families in the Jaffna district have been affected by the floods. Around 1,840 persons belonging to 543 families are in 10 Evacuation Centres in the Mullaitivu district. Of the 37 camps established 13 are in Jaffna, 11 are in Gampaha and 10 are in Mullaitivu. Others are in Nuwara-Eliya, Kilinochchi districts.

Samarasinghe in Geneva

Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe was in Geneva last week to brief the Universal Periodic Review meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

There has been a significant reduction of military strength in the North since the end of terrorism and there is no intrusive military presence impacting on civilian lives in Jaffna or the Vanni, Plantation Industries Minister and Special Presidential Envoy on Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe said at the 14th session of the Universal Periodic Review Meeting of the UNHRC in Geneva on Thursday.

“One concern that seems to have drawn the attention of our friends is the question of military presence in the former theatre of conflict. Here, I must categorically state that there has been a significant reduction of the military strength in the North since the end of the conflict."

"There is no intrusive military presence impacting on civilian life - in Jaffna or in the Vanni. On the contrary, the military has successfully completed a great deal of work to assist civilians return to their normal lives in the aftermath of the conflict,” Minister Samarasinghe said.

The minister said from May 2009 to October 2012, the Army constructed 4,652 permanent houses, 6,171 semi-permanent houses and renovated 7,454 houses, through their initiative and efforts.

It constructed 73 schools, renovated nearly 500 old school buildings and constructed 23 school playgrounds. The Army has made a significant contribution to the improvement of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. The Army contributed to the socio-cultural needs of the people by building and restoring nearly 250 places of religious worship belonging to all faiths in the North and the East.

Moreover, it contributed to the repair of 11 main roads and 43 minor roads during this period, he said. “It is my privilege and pleasure to share with the 14th session of the UPR Working Group, information and perspectives on the action taken to promote and protect human rights in Sri Lanka in the period since our first review in 2008. "It has been our consistently articulated position that, in the particular circumstances and context of the Sri Lankan situation, the UPR process provides the best opportunity to raise questions and seek clarifications about the evolving situation in the country,” the minister said.

“Some of our friends by way of questions posed have indicated a desire to see a more comprehensive approach taken with regard to the allegedly disappeared. The UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance (WGEID) has long engaged with successive governments to clear a longstanding backlog of 5,679 cases. I must note that many of these cases (over 4,000) date back over 20 years to the pre-1990 period. A further 1,089 date back to the 1991 to 2005 period. The remaining number lays to rest the canard of an increasing trend in disappearance in the recent past,” he said.

“We are working to establish a cross agency national mechanism to clear this backlog. A working committee has been established to respond to cases of disappearances and a Deputy Inspector General of Police appointed to conduct ground verifications of such cases to ascertain the present status. A special piece of legislation to enable the issuance of death certificates to next of kin was put in place and next of kin can claim monies due to them and obtain secure a substantial degree of closure,” Minister Samarasinghe said.

President to knock-out conspiracies

On Wednesday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Sri Lankans will never allow his government to face the fate that doomed all progressive governments in the past. Speaking at the Silver Jubilee celebration of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, President Rajapaksa said vicious elements destroyed all progressive governments which brought benefits to the people by nationalising many ventures such as the oil companies.

The President said the people of the country will not allow this government to suffer the same fate that befell all previous progressive governments. He recalled how his government had to face challenges in nationalising Sri Lanka Insurance in 2009 while SriLankan Airlines and Sevanagala and Pelawatte Sugar Companies were sold for a song to a handful of businessmen.

He said these institutions managed by the government are running profitably.

The President told employees of such institutions to show more commitment to run these institutions more profitably. “People will approve our decisions when these institutions are managed profitably,” he said.

The President said progressive leaders of the country established state institutions such as People’s Bank and National Savings Bank with great difficulty for posterity.

They also faced innumerable challenges in nationalising many ventures such as the Colombo Port and the oil company, he said.

President Rajapaksa said the protection of these institutions is more difficult than selling them to the private sector. The President said former leaders established them with noble objectives though rouges can sell them easily. Local and international conspirators were in operation to destroy these progressive governments and leaders. He said former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike faced tremendous challenges when oil companies were nationalised.

They faced these challenges for the benefit of the downtrodden, he said. President Rajapaksa said the development of the country is not planned by the government so as to remain in power.Former Minister T B Illangaratne who pioneered the establishment of the Insurance Corporation in 1962 had said it should be strengthened to assist the people at grassroots level. President Rajapaksa said Insurance Corporation should become an institution of people at the grassroots level. “It should not be an institution of a handful of businessmen,” he said.

The President said former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike had said at the inauguration of the Insurance Corporation in 1962 that state institutions should surpass the private sector in the field of management.