Senior Addl. Solicitor General Jayantha Jayasuriya tipped to be AG? 

Gammanpila and Joint Opposition want Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath, PC appointed AG

By Dharisha Bastians 

Senior Additional Solicitor General Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC is tipped to be Sri Lanka’s next attorney general, with the Government preparing to formalise his appointment, Daily FT learns. 

Jayasuriya PC, is the next most senior lawyer at the Attorney General’s Department, following Solicitor General and Acting Attorney General, Suhada Gamlath, PC.  Senior Additional Solicitor General Jayasuriya has a reputation as an independent government lawyer unlikely to bow to political pressure. Members of the legal fraternity are largely welcoming of the forthcoming appointment.  Once President Sirisena nominates the new Attorney General, the appointment must be ratified by the Constitutional Council chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya before it is formalised.  President Maithripala Sirisena appointed SG Gamlath as acting AG, after Attorney General Yuvanjana Wijetillake retired from office in January this year. However that is most likely to be a temporary appointment, highly placed sources told Daily FT. 

Meanwhile, holding a press briefing yesterday, UPFA MP and member of the “joint opposition” Udaya Gammanpila strongly urged the Government to appoint SG Gamlath PC as the new Attorney General. Gammanpila told reporters that if the Government was going to overlook Gamlath, it must present reasons before the Constitutional Council. 

The Solicitor General’s conduct has formerly been criticised by several Government Ministers, Government officials and civil society activists, over slow-moving corruption investigations against the ex-regime