Govt. rejects global criticism, says Constitutional amendment possible

• Says foreign investment will be unaffected, no civil court action against charges proved against  Bandaranayake
• Denies new CJ has conflict of interest, blasts UNP for post-impeachment criticism

By Uditha Jayasinghe  

Fending off criticism of the Chief Justice’s impeachment, a trio of top Ministers yesterday dismissed warnings by the US that foreign investment or aid could be affected by the move and even suggested that a Constitutional amendment was in the pipeline. 

During a lengthy media conference, Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayantha, and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella reiterated that the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was constitutional.

However, they admitted that there were concerns over the opaqueness of certain procedures to appoint and remove judges and new legislation could be introduced to lend more transparency.

Rambukwella in particular referred to the statement made by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa regarding the need for fresh legislation to outline the procedure for removing Supreme Court judges, but stopped short of mentioning details.

“Now there is a thought there should be another (constitutional) amendment, strengthening Parliament’s position, and if there are any errors, correcting them. So that will be done to express our views. If so, the Cabinet and President will decide how that will be done.”

The current Sri Lankan Constitution is 34 years old and has been amended 18 times. Rambukwella added that any changes could move beyond Judiciary concerns and into other parts of the Constitution.

“That depends on the issue. If that is the case then you need to do a careful study involving all the constitutional experts and then make a decision. But this is only if the necessity arises.”

Yapa and Premajayantha were members of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed to probe 14 charges against Bandaranayake.



When questioned whether the three charges that were proved would be taken up in a Court, they denied any such moves and emphasised that the PSC was not empowered to take such steps.

The two Ministers also dismissed any issues concerning the international condemnation that has been pouring in during the past few weeks, with America, Britain, and the Commonwealth criticising the impeachment.

On Thursday the US hinted that it could roll back US$ 16.5 million in funding for the Government, but Premajayantha was upbeat that would not pass.

“If foreign investment was going to stop, it would have done so in the immediate aftermath of the war when there were many allegations on war crimes against the country. If it did not happen then, I don’t see why it should happen now,” he said.

The United National Party (UNP) was also roundly censured for making statements over the impeachment, with Premajayantha pointing out that they participated in the PSC and the impeachment debate and accepted the Speaker’s position beforehand.

“Having been part of the procedure all this way, how can they say they are against the impeachment and do not accept the new Chief Justice? This makes no sense. If they were against it, they should have made that position clear in the beginning. It was the UNP Leader who backed the ruling of former Speaker Anura Bandaranaike.”

The Ministers were also dismissive of two cases that are pending against Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, despite removing his predecessor of charges of attempting to influence Judiciary proceedings taken against her husband. The Ministers noted they would adopt a “wait-and-see approach” with regard to the Chief Justice’s sphere of influence.