SC ruling confirms UNP stand – Tissa A.

SC ruling has placed a blockade on the Rajapaksa regime’s dictatorial trends, the main Opposition United National Party charged yesterday, vowing to do everything in its power to stop the Government to passing the impeachment resolution in Parliament in violation of the Supreme Court ruling.

In a statement welcoming the Supreme Court interpretation of the Standing Orders governing the impeachment of a judge of the superior courts, UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake says that the Government must now seek to frame laws in adherence to the Commonwealth’s Latimer House principles on the removal of judges, before proceeding with the current impeachment process.

The UNP Members on the PSC did not appear before Court the impeachment was a parliamentary process and this position has been confirmed in the Supreme Court ruling which states that the impeachment is a parliamentary subject, Attanayake’s release said

“It is noted that the Petition filed before the Court of Appeal does not seek redress from the Opposition MPs on the PSC,” the statement added.

According to the UNP General Secretary, the historic ruling by the Supreme Court has reinforced the legal position taken by the UNP from the very outset. “Our position has always been that is that while the impeachment process is a subject falling under the purview of Parliament, the laws pertaining to the process are not sufficient and further laws need to be enacted to clarify and legitimize the process,” Attanayake said. (DB)