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By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya stood strong after President Sirisena’s remarks on the Constitutional Council and its responsibilities, and the widely accepted role of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and categorically rejected the President›s charges in Parliament yesterday.
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Speaker Karu Jayasuriya |
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President Maithripala Sirisena |
Highlighting the importance of the significant role of the Constitutional Council, which he insisted was impartial and fair, the Speaker slammed President Sirisena for what he termed as false accusations of deliberate rejection of names proposed for promotions and appointments.
“I have explained to the President in my letter dated 2 January the process followed at the Constitutional Council to select suitable people. We do consider the seniority among several other factors. It is incorrect to say that we completely disregard seniority. There is no purpose of having a Constitutional Council if seniority is the only factor to be considered for promotions,” the Speaker held.
Criticising the President’s charge of rejecting 12 nominees, the Speaker explained the Constitutional Council basis for selection.
“Rejecting 12 nominations is also a wrong statement. We have approved some of the names he proposed and have not included any outsider to his list. We select one candidate out of four names he sends for a particular vacancy. By selecting one out of four, we have to reject the other three. It is our responsibility to select the most suitable as per the provisions of the 19th Amendment, which we have followed,” said the Speaker.
The Speaker also held that the Constitutional Council is not responsible for the appointments for primary courts, magistrates’ courts and the district courts. “The Judicial Services Commission does the appointments other than the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, which the Constitutional Council is responsible. So, it is unfair to accuse us of matters we are not responsible for. We have not selected those who are charged before the Bribery Commission and charged for other issues, and also who fail to have a recommendation from the Chief Justice,” held Jayasuriya.
According to the Speaker, the independent Commissions of the country has brought significant recognition to Sri Lanka. This includes the important part played by the Human Rights Commission, which also came under attack by the President on Wednesday.
“The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka is recognised at international level. The United Nations accepts it to be among the best. The human rights improvements in Sri Lanka is sure to be a strength for us at the UNHRC Geneva summit scheduled for March this year. The Human Rights Commission has only asked for a report about sending the Special Task Force to the Angunakolapelessa Prison, but has not interfered in the matter. The delay in getting back the soldiers sent to Mali on a UN peacekeeping mission was a delay that happened from all parties involved, including the UN, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the tri-forces, and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka,” he added.
“A report including the guideline followed by the Constitutional Council considered for appointing members to independent commissions was tabled in the Parliament on 8 December 2016. I will re-table the same on Friday for the information of the lawmakers. The Constitutional Council considers these guidelines in addition to the seniority of the person, honesty, integrity, and impartiality for making appointments to positions,” held the Speaker.
According to the Speaker, the Ex-Officio members of the Constitutional Council includes the Prime Minister who represents the Government, Leader of the Opposition, and one member appointed by the President. Two more members are appointed to the Constitutional Council with the agreement of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The other member is appointed with the agreement of the other political parties in the Parliament, followed by the representatives from the civil society.
“Currently, there are two lawmakers from the United National Party (UNP), three lawmakers from the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), one lawmaker from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), and three persons representing the civil society serving as members of the Constitutional Council,” said Jayasuriya, confirming to the House that the members of the Constitutional Council represent key political parties in the Parliament.
“It is due to the gravity of such serious errors that public figures must exercise discretion and diligence when levelling criticisms and allegations against Sri Lanka’s critical public institutions,” Speaker said.
The Constitutional Council was first established in 2000 under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. In 2010, President Mahinda Rajapaksa established the Parliamentary Council, under the 18th Amendment, to replace the Constitutional Council. After Maithripala Sirisena was elected President, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the new reforms to reinstate a new Constitutional Council in 2015, under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
The independent Commissions were established under the Constitutional Council, fulfilling one of the major promises of the United National Party-led Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena during the 2015 Presidential Election.
