The Electricity Consumers' Association (ECA) has sent a letter to all Parliamentarians requesting to defeat the resolution submitted to the Parliament to remove the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), Janaka Ratnayake.
The letter, which was seen by The Daily Morning, read that exercising political power against honest and straightforward officials like Ratnayake, who raised his voice directly against the increase in electricity tariffs and the non-transparent increase in fuel prices, is a death blow to democracy.
“Ratnayake objected to the increase in electricity tariffs in February, 2023. By now, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has submitted proposals to lower electricity tariffs again. This confirms that the facts presented by Ratnayake based on accurate data are correct.”
In the letter signed by the ECA’s General Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika, it was also mentioned that Ratnayake was the first to disclose that the Ministry of Power and Energy was preparing to transfer the ownership of a number of hydropower plants to private companies, and that the subject Minister (Kanchana Wijesekera) sees such disclosures of corruption as a public criticism of him.
Furthermore, the letter read that while Ratnayake had explained the facts at length regarding all the charges mentioned in the charge sheet presented by Wijesekera against him, instead of answering them, the attempt to remove him from office using political power is not democratic at all, and that all MPs who support such action are acting against the wishes of the voters.
“We believe that the people will properly monitor the behaviour of the MPs and respond correctly in the upcoming elections. Therefore, we request you (MPs) to support us in defeating the resolution against Ratnayake who is dedicated to protecting the rights of the people that you represent,” the letter concluded.
Ratnayake continued to refuse granting permission for the implementation of the electricity tariff revision as requested by the CEB 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 Wickremesinghe had been sent to Ratnayake on 22 March 2023, to which he had replied with lengthy explanations. The resolution to remove him as the PUCSL Chairman is to be debated in the Parliament on 24 May.