- SC concludes hearing petitions; observation to Prez and Speaker
- NFF and Wijeyadasa warn against 20A; MR responds
- MS’ security and part of premises to be slashed
- Opposition Leader seeks more security following attack
However, while the first Covid-19 detection was made last Sunday (4), the Supreme Court (SC) concluded the consideration of petitions filed challenging the draft bill of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution on Monday (5).
The decision of the court will be sent to the President and Speaker of Parliament in due course, once a determination has been made. Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya stated in open court that the secret decision of the SC regarding the constitutionality of the draft 20th Amendment will be referred to the President and Speaker of Parliament, in accordance with the Constitution.
During the hearing, Attorney General (AG) Dappula de Livera stated that all the provisions contained in the draft 20th Amendment were in accordance with the Constitution.
Pointing out that the President is bound to ensure free and fair elections in accordance with the Constitution, the AG stated that the proposed 20th Amendment Bill had expanded that responsibility while providing the Election Commission (EC) with a strong legal basis for free and fair elections.
The AG explained that the 20th Amendment proposes to reinstate the President’s immunity taken from him by the 19th Amendment, which will enable the President to exercise the executive powers vested in him by the Constitution without any hindrance.
He further emphasised that there was no need for a referendum to approve any of the provisions contained in the draft. In conclusion, AG de Livera stressed in court that the draft could easily be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament without a referendum.
In addition, AG de Livera refused to give a copy of his written submissions to counsel for the petitioners, when said counsel made an application for it to enable them to respond to the Government’s positions.
Chief Justice Jayasuriya asked the AG whether he could make it available for them even as an electronic copy. The AG refused the request of the Chief Justice. The AG informed Chief Justice Jayasuriya that he would only be giving the electronic or “soft” copy to the court on Tuesday (6).
Ultimately, the court dealt with the AG’s obstructions by making one of its own copies available for the petitioners’ counsel to photocopy and peruse.
Subsequently, the court directed the parties involved in the case to submit their written submissions, if any, before 3 p.m. on Tuesday, giving petitioners’ counsel mere hours to obtain, photocopy, read, and file objections against several hundred pages of legal arguments by the AG.
Consideration of the petitions commenced for the fourth and final day on Friday (9) morning before the five-member judge bench chaired by Chief Justice Jayasuriya. The bench consisted of SC Justices Buwaneka Aluwihare, Sisira de Abrew, Priyantha Jayawardena, and Vijith Malalgoda.
Thirty-nine petitions in total were filed against the draft bill of the 20th Amendment, citing the AG as the respondent.
The petitions were put forward by EC member Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene, SJB Youth Wing Chairman Mayantha Dissanayake, Attorney-at-Law P. Liyanaarachchi of the Sirilaka Janatha Peramuna, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), former Governor and Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Executive Director Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon, human rights activist Abdul Zanoon, and many others.
Meanwhile, Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Gamini Lokuge, and Prof. G.L. Peiris filed interlocutory petitions seeking permission to present cross-submissions pertaining to the petitions challenging the 20th Amendment draft bill.
In addition, MPs Sagara Kariyawasam, Ven. Omare Kassapa Thera, M. Dayaratne, W.A. Weerathilake, and P.G.B. Abeyratne also filed interlocutory petitions.
Wimal’s missive
The National Freedom Front (NFF), a key coalition partner of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), wrote publicly to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stating that the party is disappointed over the failure to include any of the amendments to the draft bill proposed by its Leader, Minister Wimal Weerawansa, in the proposal of amendments to the draft of 20A of the Government submitted by the AG in court.
The letter titled “Amendments to be made to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution during the Parliamentary Committee Stage” includes concerns of the party regarding the amendments that should be included in the draft of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution at the parliamentary committee stage.
On behalf of the politburo of the NFF, its General Secretary S. Wijayasiri had forwarded the letter to Prime Minister Rajapaksa, and it was thereafter released to the media.
The letter stressed that the NFF and the general public were strongly opposed to a number of provisions central to the proposed 20th Amendment. “Neglecting those points will negatively impact the image of the Government and the spirit of the public mandate, which the Prime Minister would also agree on,” the letter states.
The first point emphasised is the exemption of companies registered under the Registrar of Companies, of which the Government holds the majority of shares, from the Auditor General’s audit.
The second point is the passing of emergency acts without informing the general public regarding such through gazette notifications or providing adequate time for their constitutionality to be determined by the SC.
They also objected to the 20th Amendment’s favourable treatment of Sri Lankans who are also citizens of other countries and seek to enter Parliament, run for president, serve as diplomats, or hold other senior government positions that could bring their national loyalties into question.
Through the letter to the Prime Minister, the NFF had respectfully emphasised that the Government should correct those mistakes.
The party stated that this should be a political stance taken to protect the public mandate and in the event the Government, as a whole, chooses to ignore this political stance, the party will not be held politically responsible in this regard. The NFF holds six precious seats in Parliament, without whose support the Government would be unable to secure the 250 votes necessary to pass the 20th Amendment.
NFF MPs, including its Leader Weerawansa, voted in favour of the 19th Amendment when it was passed in 2015.
Wijeyadasa concerned
SLPP parliamentarian Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, raising his own concerns about the 20th Amendment and expressing doubts about whether he would vote for the Bill.
The letter, addressed to President Rajapaksa and copied to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that Dr. Rajapakshe was concerned about violating his pledge to defend the Constitution of Sri Lanka by voting for such an amendment. He had also opined that the Government could have opted to simply remove the negative aspects of the 19th Amendment and retain its positive features, rather than eradicate it completely. Dr. Rajapakshe voted in favour of the 19th Amendment in 2015 and served as Minister of Justice at the time.
In the letter, Dr. Rajapakshe called for the power to appoint ministers to be given exclusively to the President, rather than for this to be done in consultation with the Prime Minister. He also proposed that instead of the Parliamentary Council, the Constitutional Council be expanded to include the President’s nominee and a nominee from minor parties to expand it to seven members.
If any issues arose in the function of the independent commissions, they could be resolved through discussions between the President and the Parliamentary Council, he proposed.
MR responds
Prime Minister Rajapaksa on Sunday (4) held a public meeting and vigorously defended the proposed 20th Amendment Bill, refuting allegations that the enactment of the bill would reduce the powers of the Auditor General or remove important institutions from the department’s oversight.
“All the 20th Amendment seeks to do is to replace the changes made to the provisions relating to the Auditor General by the 19th Amendment with the provisions that existed before the 19th Amendment,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.
He said the Opposition has been trying to propagate the idea that the Auditor General’s powers would be reduced by the proposed constitutional amendment and it is easier to propagate various falsehoods in this connection, as it is seldom that the constitutional provisions regarding the Auditor General come to the attention of the public.
He said one such false claim being made is that the 19th Amendment set up an Audit Commission and that the 20th Amendment seeks to abolish it.
“What the 19th Amendment made provision for was not an Audit Commission but only an Audit Service Commission (ASC). The ASC does not carry out any auditing functions. It handles matters like the appointment, promotion, transfer, and disciplinary control of members of the State Audit Service.
“Usually, such matters pertaining to government servants are dealt with by the Public Service Commission. All that the creation of the ASC achieved was to set up yet another commission to do the work that was being done by the Public Service Commission,” Rajapaksa said.
He said another such claim being made by the Opposition is that the 20th Amendment seeks to remove the Presidential Secretariat and the Office of the Prime Minister from the purview of the Auditor General, when in fact the amendment simply removed redundant and unnecessary language.
The Prime Minister explained that from the very inception of the 1978 Constitution, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office have been under the purview of the Auditor General. The phrase “all departments of government” in Article 154(1) of the pre-19th Amendment Constitution brought the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office under the purview of the Auditor General.
“These institutions were always listed as government departments in the Government Financial Regulations. Quite apart from these two institutions, even the Office of Former Presidents is listed as a separate government department and all these institutions were always audited by the Auditor General,” he said.
Rajapaksa said that the inclusion of the Presidential Secretariat and the Office of the Prime Minister by name in Article 154(1) by the 19th Amendment did not achieve anything new.
“Even though they may have not been specifically mentioned by name, from the very inception of the 1978 Constitution, the Presidential Secretariat and Prime Minister’s Office had always been under the purview of the Auditor General.
“Even after the 20th Amendment reinstates the old Article 154(1) which existed from the inception of the 1978 Constitution, in place of the so-called ‘changes’ made by the 19th Amendment, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office will continue to remain within the purview of the Auditor General. Over the past decades, it’s the Auditor General who audited the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office and not some private audit firm.”
The Prime Minister said another falsehood that’s being propagated is that state-owned companies will be removed from the purview of the Auditor General by the 20th Amendment and explained that the auditing of state corporations and state-owned companies (i.e. companies in which the State owns more than 50% of the shares) comes under Article 154(2) of the Constitution.
He said that under the provisions of Article 154(2), the minister in charge of the subject can assign the auditing of a state corporation or a state-owned company to a qualified audit firm, but before doing so, he is mandatorily required to obtain the concurrence of the Finance Minister and also to consult the Auditor General.
“After the minister in charge of the subject assigns the auditing of a state corporation or a state-owned company to an audit firm in this manner, the Auditor General can issue a written notice to that audit firm, informing them that he proposes to utilise their services for the performance and discharge of the Auditor General’s duties in relation to that state corporation or state-owned company, and thereupon that audit firm is mandatorily required to act under the direction and control of the Auditor General,” he said.
The Prime Minister added that the contents of Article 154(2), which existed from the inception of the 1978 Constitution, were not changed by the 19th Amendment and will not change under the 20th Amendment either.
“Therefore, it can be said that the contents of Article 154(2) have remained the same from the inception of the 1978 Constitution and will continue to remain so in the future as well. Hence, the claim that state-owned companies are to be taken out of the purview of the Auditor General is a complete falsehood.”
Rajapaksa added that it’s also being claimed by Opposition propagandists that the 19th Amendment had stipulated that the Auditor General should be a “qualified auditor” and that when the 20th Amendment reinstates the old pre-19th Amendment Article 153(1), this qualification requirement will be dropped and hence, after the 20th Amendment is passed, even an unqualified person can be appointed as the Auditor General.
“Constitutions are written on the assumption that those reading it will have basic common sense. The Constitution does not state anywhere that the person appointed as Attorney General or as a Supreme Court judge has to be a qualified lawyer. But those appointed as Attorney General, Auditor General, or a Supreme Court judge will always have the required educational and professional qualifications without which they cannot function in those positions,” the PM said in the statement.
Democracy?
SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris last week downplayed the growing chorus of dissenting voices within the governing ranks against the 20th Amendment, insisting that such debate was a natural part of the democratic process.
Prof. Peiris told a news briefing last Monday (5) that opposing views on a selection of clauses included in the 20th Amendment by Weerawansa and SLPP parliamentarian Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe were part of the democratic process of citizens having the right to express their views.
“There are several stages to getting key legislation of this nature passed. There have been 39 petitions filed before the Supreme Court and we are awaiting the court’s decision on whether we need to hold a referendum. This decision will be conveyed to the Speaker by 12 October, which is the end of the three-week period specified in the Constitution. Then, there will be changes at the committee stage, and already we have said that some changes will be made,” he had told the media.
However, Prof. Peiris has declined to elaborate on whether the points raised by Weerawansa would be addressed. On Sunday (4), Weerawansa said his party objected to dual citizens being allowed to hold any post in Parliament, including becoming executive president, as well as passing emergency legislation without prior gazette publications. The NFF also objected to certain companies the Government was a majority shareholder of being exempt from the oversight of the Auditor General.
Prof. Peiris defended the inclusion of dual citizenship, alleging that it was only introduced in the 19th Amendment to target specific members of the Rajapaksa family.
MS’ woes
The security provided to the governing SLPP’s coalition partner, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Leader and former President MP Maithripala Sirisena, has been reduced, much to the displeasure of the SLFPers.
The security provided to Sirisena has been reduced by half, it is learnt.
Sirisena had been assigned a contingent of 120 security personnel, offered earlier to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which has now been reduced to 60 personnel.
It is also learnt that there are moves to reacquire part of the official residence premises assigned to Sirisena. The Ministry of Public Administration is in the process of making the necessary arrangements for the reacquisition of some areas of the compound.
It is noteworthy that the security and land allocation of the official premises of Sirisena are being reduced in the backdrop of the SLFP holding discussions on the proposed 20th Amendment Bill with SLPP Founder and theoretician Basil Rajapaksa.
According to unofficial reports, the discussion on the matter of the 20th Amendment between the SLFP and Basil has made progress, with both sides agreeing on several key concerns.
Opposition Leader’s security
On the topic of official security, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has also faced a similar predicament, as he feels the number of security personnel assigned to him is insufficient.
The Opposition Leader’s Office had written to Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne on 30 September, stating that the security contingent assigned to Premadasa was insufficient.
The letter recalled the attack on a meeting attended by the Opposition Leader last month in the Mount Lavinia police area, stating it was evident that there was a need for more security to be assigned to Premadasa.
The letter signed by the Opposition Leader’s Private Secretary noted that there’s a need for an increase in security personnel since there needs to be several personnel who can provide advance security as well as accompany Premadasa when he attends scheduled public meetings.
Rishadgate
Last week also saw a growing controversy over All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Leader MP Rishad Bathiudeen, following a photograph of him going viral on social media where he is seen shaking hands with Minister Chamal Rajapaksa at an event attended by the Defence Secretary.
The photograph was publicised in the backdrop of Bathiudeen’s brother, Riyaj Bathiudeen, who was in police custody over the Easter Sunday attacks probe, being suddenly released by the Police, citing a lack of evidence to prosecute him.
The growing public scepticism of the possibility of a political “deal” between certain senior members of the Government and Bathiudeen finally resulted in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa denying that the Government had entered into any political deal with Bathiudeen.
The President made this denial through a Facebook message.
He said that he was not prepared to hand over the power of arresting or arbitrarily releasing people to politicians.
President Rajapaksa said that he will take actions to rectify any omissions or mistakes made by relevant officials or authorities, if any. The President further said that he will not forsake the trust placed in him by Sri Lankan citizens.
The full message of President Rajapaksa is as follows:
“Ensuring national security is the first and foremost responsibility of my Government. I am not prepared to hand over the power of arresting or arbitrarily releasing people to politicians, as happened in the past.
“I will also take actions to rectify any omissions or mistakes made by the relevant authorities or officials. I emphasise that our Government has not entered into any political deal with parliamentarian Rishad Bathiudeen.
“I assure my citizens that I will not forsake the trust that they have placed in me and I will most certainly continue to work towards strengthening the built trust.”
Cardinal gets tough
His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has raised concerns over the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) releasing Bathiudeen’s brother.
Referring to Riyaj Bathiudeen, he said that suspects whose actions were investigated over the allegations pertaining to the Easter Sunday bombings were released from custody by the CID.
In a special media briefing held on 3 October at the Archbishop’s House in Colombo, the Cardinal raised suspicions that a “political deal” is behind the move.
Surprised and saddened by the CID’s conduct, he urged the authorities to properly carry out the investigations in this regard.
The Cardinal also referred to a statement made by Police Media Spokesperson SSP Jaliya Senaratne, in which he said that investigations into the carnage have revealed that the parliamentarian’s brother has maintained direct links with the bombers.
Speaking further, the Cardinal pointed out that the Police Spokesperson’s statement and the CID’s move are in complete contradiction.
SSP Senaratne, in a recent media briefing, announced that Riyaj Bathiudeen was released due to “lack of evidence” to file a case against him.
However, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had to postpone a meeting that was previously scheduled to be held this week with Catholic MPs due to the prevalent coronavirus situation.
Secretary to the Bishop Rev. Fr. Deninton Subasinghe confirmed to The Morning earlier this week that the meeting had been postponed by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith.
He said the meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday (6).
“The Cardinal wanted to meet the MPs to discuss an array of matters.”
It is learnt that the probe into the Easter Sunday attacks was to be taken up for discussion during the meeting.
It is in this backdrop that CID Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Nuwan Wedasinghe was suddenly transferred as the Acting DIG of Western Province-North while DIG S.P. Ranasinghe, a former senior CID officer with diplomatic experience, was appointed as the new DIG of the CID.
The transfers were implemented with immediate effect.