• Consumers’ Asso. to send 100,000 signatures to Prez, Speaker

The Electricity Consumers' Association (ECA) is collecting signatures for an online public petition protesting against the preparations to remove the Public Utility Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman, Janaka Ratnayake through a Parliamentary resolution.

On 11 May, the party leaders, during a meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, had decided to take up the motion to remove Ratnayake, presented by the Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera for debate on 24 May.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (16), ECA General Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika said the Government's programme to remove Ratnayake is not something that affects only the latter, but the people and democracy. "Attempts to suppress honest public officials in this manner are a suppression of all of us. He always stood up for the people's benefit. Everything he said regarding tariff revisions and related matters have proven to be correct."

In protest of the preparations to remove Ratnayake, he said, the ECA had launched a campaign yesterday to obtain signatures for an online public petition. "The Government had prepared a charge sheet against him, to which Ratnayake had responded. Without responding to his explanations, the Government is taking steps to remove him. In protest of this undemocratic programme, we are hoping to obtain 100,000 signatures for the petition before 24 May. We will send it to President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana," added Dhammika.

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  traded critical comments about each other from time to time, and even President Wickremesinghe once made comments about Ratnayake in  Parliament. In January, Wijesekera announced his decision to remove Ratnayake. Prior to the motion being tabled in Parliament, a charge sheet signed by Wickremesinghe, who is also the National Policies Minister, had been sent to Ratnayake on 22 March, 2023, to which he had replied with lengthy explanations.