GR’s responsibility to prove US citizenship renunciation, say lawyers

Former BoI Chairman and Attorney-at-Law Upul Jayasuriya- Pic by Lasantha Kumara

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa is responsible for addressing the renunciation of his US citizenship, Upul Jayasuriya PC said yesterday, adding that obtaining the documents and independently verifying them would be difficult just days ahead of the Presidential Election.  

The statement was made at a press briefing at which Jayasuriya, in addition to M.C. Jayarathna PC, Thisath Wijegunawardena PC and Farman Cassim PC, addressed the issue of Rajapaksa’s eligibility to contest the forthcoming Presidential Election.

The issue re-emerged following the release of the latest Federal Registry by the US Government earlier this week, from which Rajapaksa’s name was absent. 

“If he has renounced his citizenship of the United States of America and if there was sufficient time for his name to be included on the list of people who have renounced their US citizenship as at 30 June and if it was not included on that list, they should have taken the precaution to urge, stress and plead with the US Department of State or the US Embassy in Sri Lanka to make sure his name got into the third quarter list,” Jayasuriya said.

He added that due to an oath of secrecy, citizenship renunciation dealings were strictly between the applicant and those to whom the application was handed. Since third parties could not intervene or request information on the proceedings, it was Rajapaksa who “can request the US Government to disregard the oath of secrecy and make a statement regarding his citizenship renunciation,” Jayasuriya stated, explaining that not even the Sri Lankan Government could make such a request. 

In addition to the confidentiality surrounding the matter, the Government could not take action or intervene as this was an issue concerning the Presidential Election. 

“There is a separate set of laws to cover this,” Jayasuriya said. 

He went on to explain that the issue regarding Rajapaksa’s citizenship was not taken up by the Election Commission when nomination papers were submitted due to the fact that citizenship was not one of the five issues over which the commissioner could reject a nomination paper.

“We also learnt that arrangements were being made to present former Speaker of Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa as an alternative candidate if the judgment did not work in their favour. We are curious to know why they took such steps to have an alternative candidate when they were sure the candidate was 100% qualified to contest the Presidential Election,” Jayasuriya added.

When questioned about what would follow in a situation where Rajapaksa won the Presidential Election, Jayasuriya said that anyone could challenge the validity of his US citizenship renunciation and take the matter to court.

“He’s open to be disqualified the same way that former MP Geetha Kumarasinghe was disqualified. The principle of the law is the same; it applies to a Member of Parliament, presidential candidate or elected president,” Jayasuriya said.