In the wake of the resolution to remove the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Ratnayake being scheduled to be debated in the Parliament today (24), PUCSL members have expressed divergent views on the matter, The Daily Morning learned.

The resolution presented by the Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera to remove Ratnayake as the PUCSL Chairman is to be taken up for debate in the Parliament today (24).

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (23), a member of the PUCSL, who wished to remain anonymous, said that as members of an independent Commission, they had no concern with who would be appointed as the Chairman. This member also said that all the members are bound to fulfill their designated roles as members. "This proposal is part of a programme brought by the political authority and implemented through the Parliament. As members, we have no involvement in it. Also, we do not have a personal conflict with the Chairman. What we have to say is that we have neither joy nor sorrow about the preparations to remove him," the member said. The member further said that there were various disagreements between the Chairman and the other members of the PUCSL regarding the decisions taken in the past, particularly the decision with regard to the electricity tariff hike in February, but that they were not personal issues. "Chairman and the members were of two opinions on the matter of increasing the electricity tariffs. We presented our opinion, and he presented his opinion. We cannot accept his criticism of us in public on certain occasions. Ratnayake having an opinion contrary to the majority opinion regarding many matters is a cause of trouble."

Another member of the PUCSL, speaking to The Daily Morning, said that it is not wrong to remove the Head of a Commission or any other institution using the relevant appropriate action if they behave inappropriately. "When Ratnayake was speaking against the Government, Ministers and Parliamentarians, we felt that it was not the role of a Head of such an organisation. He even said that all 225 MPs are fools. When he was making various inappropriate statements, we sensed that this would end in this manner. Some people argue that it is wrong to remove someone after being appointed to a Commission, but what I think is that there should be a way to remove someone if they behave inappropriately, and for political interests," he said.

Ratnayake continued to refuse granting permission for the implementation of the electricity tariff revision as requested by the Ceylon Electricity Board early this year, claiming that it was illegal. Wijesekera and he had been making critical comments about each other from time to time, and even President Ranil Wickremesinghe once made comments about Ratnayake in the Parliament. In January, Wijesekera announced his decision to remove Ratnayake. Prior to the resolution being tabled in the Parliament, a charge sheet signed by President Wickremesinghe had been sent to Ratnayake on 22 March, 2023, to which he had replied with lengthy explanations.