We note with dismay the attempts being made by the President and Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies Ranil Wickremesinghe and some Government Parliamentarians to intimidate the Judiciary on the false pretext that the Supreme Court (SC) has violated the privileges of MPs. This allegation has been made after the SC granted leave to proceed with a fundamental rights application filed against the withholding of funds for the purpose of conducting the Local Government (LG) elections. The SC has also made an interim order restraining several State functionaries from withholding any funds allocated by the Budget for the year 2023 for the purpose of conducting the LG elections.

We vehemently condemn these fresh actions by the Government to undermine the democratic process of our country. We also fully endorse the statement issued by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) on this matter. The BASL has warned that any attempt to interfere with the independence of the Judiciary is a serious affront to the rule of law, the rights of the people of the country, and democracy.

We further note that these attempts by the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MPs mark a joint effort by both the Executive and sections of the ruling party in the Legislature to further undermine the legally mandated LG elections from being held. It is reprehensible that the Government, after the repeated failure of several attempts to force the Election Commission (EC) to abandon the plans to hold the elections, has now chosen the Judiciary as the target of its attacks.

This shows a dangerous pattern of governmental behaviour in which no independent institutional space – whether it is the independent commissions or the Judiciary – is tolerated in its attempts to stay in power. It wants to prevent, at any cost, the people’s voice from being expressed through an election, which is the most effective and peaceful way available to the people in any democratic society to express their political preferences and choices.

What these new developments show is that Sri Lanka’s fragile democracy is under severe attack, orchestrated by the President and the ruling party, using both the Executive and Legislative powers that they wield. Therefore, all Sri Lankan citizens, political parties, civil society, and other mass organisations, as well as the international community, need to be alert to the urgent need to protect the democratic space at every level. Sri Lanka has a history of ruling parties attacking the independence of the Judiciary during the 1970s and 1980s and later as well, aimed at serving the individual and partisan ambitions of those in power. Those have only led to greater political instability, civil unrest, and the deepening of the existing political crises.

Thus, defending the free space for independent judgement, action, and dissent, free from capricious interference and threats from those who hold political power, has once again become an urgent task in the agenda for protecting democracy in Sri Lanka.

We call upon the Government and all those responsible for holding the election to do so without delay or hindrance and thereby uphold and protect democratic governance and Government in Sri Lanka. We also urge the Government to cease its attacks on the Judiciary, an institution whose integrity and independence is pivotal to democracy in our country. We stress that the confrontational and arrogant approach currently adopted by this administration is wholly counter-productive. It even negates the interests of the people whose rights and well-being the Government is duty-bound to serve with diligence and competence in an accountable manner.

Finally, we demand that the President and the Government, desist from interfering with the Judiciary or the EC, curtailing their independence in a manner that impedes the people’s democratic liberties and rights, end misusing political power to harm the country’s democratic institutions and processes for their partisan and personal political interests and ambitions, and to respect the interim order of the SC on the LG elections.