Removal of PTA detrimental to national 

security – Manohara, PC

By Shamindra Ferdinando-November 17, 2015, 7:27 am 

President’s Counsel Manohara de Silva yesterday censured the government for agreeing to do away with the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) as well as other regulations in place to counter possible future threats.

The senior lawyer stressed the need to maintain security though the LTTE no longer posed a conventional military threat. The President’s Counsel was on Sirasa live political programme ‘Pethikada.’

Responding to interviewer Bandula Jayasekera, De Silva expressed surprise that the UNP-SLFP coalition had decided to do away with the PTA which had contributed to annihilation of terrorism with a new law.

De Silva urged the government to be cautious as the country was still vulnerable to terrorism. Last Friday’s Paris massacre highlighted the pivotal importance of a country being prepared to meet any eventuality, he said.

Commenting on the four-party Tamil National Alliance approach towards post-war reconciliation, De Silva alleged the grouping was still pursuing an agenda inimical to Sri Lanka’s national interest. He emphasised that the TNA was seeking to achieve a separate state through federalism.

The President’s Counsel asserted that the full implementation of the 13 Amendment to the Constitution would have a disastrous impact on the country. The devolution of police powers to nine provinces would automatically result in the creation of separate police forces under respective Chief Ministers. The police in one province wouldn’t be able to enter another province hence creating a chaotic situation, he said, adding that the devolution of police powers wasn’t advisable.

He noted that Indian intervention had caused the mayhem here.

The President’s Counsel admitted that Tamil speaking people’s demand for the implementation of the Constitution, too, was justified. The devolution process shouldn’t divide communities, he said.

De Silva faulted the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration for having co-sponsored a resolution that dealt with Sri Lanka at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). President Maithripala Sirisena had been deprived of expert advice on not only Geneva issue but also various other important subjects, he said. Referring to the proposed abolition of the PTA, the attorney-at-law declared that the government was taking the wrong path.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, too, hadn’t received proper advice, De Silva said. Had the previous government acted sensibly on the basis of sound advice, the country would have been prepared to tackle the accountability issues in the wake of its triumph over terrorism. The President’s Counsel lamented the absence of strategic thinking in tackling contentious issues.

The President’s counsel frowned on the readiness of the new administration to accommodate foreign and other Commonwealth judges, prosecutors as well as investigators to set up a judicial mechanism to try war crimes suspects. When it was pointed out that former President Rajapaksa had obtained the services of foreign experts to assist the Paranagama Commission, De Silva stressed that the proposed hybrid mechanism and the role played by foreign experts on the previous government’s invitation couldn’t be compared.

The President’s Counsel said that the failure on the part of the government to conduct a thorough inquiry into the alleged Central Bank bond scam in the run-up to the Aug. 17 parliamentary polls had given the lie to the government’s yahapalanaya claim. De Silva pointed out that Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran wouldn’t have acted on his own but carried out specific instructions received by him. He also recalled that President Maithripala Sirisena had publicly declared that he, too, felt the need to replace the Governor in the run-up to the general election.