Opposition PSC members could appear before CA – BASL chief

Impeachment process:

By Shamindra Ferdinando-December 24, 2012,

 President of the Sri Lanka Bar Association (BASL) Wijedasa Rajapakshe, MP, said yesterday that Opposition members of the 11-member special Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), which investigated allegations against Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, could accept the Court of Appeal summons issued on them regardless of the UPFA decision to ignore it.

UNP Colombo District MP Rajapakshe said that the Opposition could appear before the Appeal Court next month. The BASL chief was responding to a query by The Island in the wake of the Court of Appeal last Friday (21) issuing notice on Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and PSC members in respect of the writ application filed by CJ Bandaranayake against the findings of the PSC which found her guilty of misconduct.

Asked whether Rajapakshe, in his capacity as BASL chief, would recommend to the Opposition to appear in court, the UNPer said that decision should be taken by political parties which joined the PSC. MP Rajapakshe stressed that he wouldn’t try to interfere with the UNP’s decision. However, the Opposition could accept Appeal Court directive, even though the SLFP-led UPFA was likely to ignore the judicial process, the MP said. He favoured the opening of a new parliamentary session.

The 11-member PSC appointed by Speaker Rajapaksha comprised seven UPFA members (Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premjayanth, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Wimal Weerawansa, Dilan Perera and Neomal Perera) and four members -R. Sampanthan (TNA), John Amaratunga, Lakshman Kiriella (UNP) and Vijitha Herath (JVP).

MP Rajapakshe said that he was yet to discuss the issue with the UNP leadership. Responding to Sunday’s media reports regarding the possibility of the ruling coalition prorogating parliament to pave the way for a fresh inquiry, the BASL President said that it would be the best course of action to avoid a damaging constitutional showdown. The MP pointed out that the call for the prorogation was made by a section of the government. Rajapakshe recalled the circumstances under which the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga prorogued parliament when the then UNF government moved to impeach Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva.

TNA leader Sampanthan and John Amaratunga are out of the country. Lakshman Kiriella and Vijitha Herath, were not available for comment yesterday.

Deputy Secretary General of the UNP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardana told The Island yesterday that a decision would be taken once party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, returned from overseas. Gampaha District MP Jayawardana, too, said that the Opposition didn’t have to follow UPFA stand on the Appeal Court ruling, though it would be the prerogative of the decision making bodies of the UNP, JVP and TNA to decide on the issue. The MP said that the country hadn’t experienced a similar situation in the past and the PSC, too, seemed divided over the impeachment of the CJ.

Both Rajapakshe and Jayawardana said that the UNP strongly endorsed the right of the parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings, though the party couldn’t accept politically motivated witch hunt.

MP Rajapakshe said that the government should go for a proper inquiry if it was confident of allegations contained in impeachment motion submitted by a group of 117 members of parliament.

General Secretary of the Communist Party Dew Gunasekera emphasized that prorogation of parliament would be in the best interests of the ruling coalition as well as the country. Asked whether the left alliance comprising Ministers Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Prof. Tissa Vitharana and himself was on a collision course with the SLFP, the main constituent party of the UPFA, national list MP Gunasekera said that no one could afford to play politics with the impeachment issue. It would be irrational on the government part to allow the situation to develop into a crisis. "We are heading for a disastrous situation. Obviously prorogation of parliament seems to be the only way out," the veteran politician insisted, adding the left alliance was confident the continuing protests could be tackled by ordering a fresh inquiry. The senior minister said that a review of strategy was needed to prevent those waiting to undermine the government from exploiting the situation.

The MP said that the left party alliance briefed the President regarding the prorogation proposal.

Referring to the recently held LSSP convention attended by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksha, MP Gunasekera said that Prof. Vitharana in his address stressed that CJ Bandaranayake should be punished if she had done something wrong, though the LSSP couldn’t accept what was going on. Minister Vitharana found fault with the current PSC process.

Minister Gunasekera expressed confidence that constituent partners of the UPFA would help to defuse the crisis.