Opposition urges Speaker to intervene, avert constitutional crisis

Opposition political parties represented in Parliament yesterday collectively called on the Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to intervene and avert the constitutional crisis that has arisen due to the Government’s decision to continue with the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament said the Speaker must step in and intervene to resolve the matter to avert the possible constitutional crisis that is in the making. He called on the Speaker to dedicate the next two days to initiate a dialogue with the relevant parties to the problem, including the lawyers concerned.

The Opposition Leader has also said it should be ensured that no more court orders are issued against Parliament.

According to Wickremesinghe, the resolution for the removal of a judge under Article 107 (3) can be preceded unless and until an independent body of persons is established by law.

Meanwhile, Opposition party leaders in Sri Lanka jointly pointed out that the Government’s decision to debate the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice has created a constitutional crisis and requested the Speaker, in writing, to summon a party leaders’ meeting to discuss the issue.

The Opposition party leaders have said that they opposed the decision taken on Monday to take up the resolution against the Chief Justice for debate on 10 and 11 January.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga, Team Leader of the Democratic National Alliance Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, and Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s (JVP) Vijitha Herath and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Mavai Senathirajah have signed the letter that was handed over to the Speaker.

The letter had said that both former Speaker Anura Bandaranaike and Justice Amaratunga had clearly stated the powers of Parliament and that only the Supreme Court has the authority to interpret the Constitution and that only Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution stand.

The main Opposition UNP in a party meeting today has decided to participate in the Parliamentary debate that is scheduled for later in the week on the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee that probed the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice.

The other Opposition parties have not announced their decisions yet.