AKD blunder  at UNGA

In what could only be seen as a major blunder of the new administration led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the international sphere, former Chief Justice Mohan Peiris delivered the first major policy statement of the Government on the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly recently. 

The man who epitomises cronyism, political patronage, judicial corruption and the undermining of democratic institutions in Sri Lanka, proclaimed at the most august multilateral forum that “following a transparent and peaceful electoral process and a dignified transition in keeping with our decades of democratic practice, Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the 9th Executive President of Sri Lanka. The people of Sri Lanka have vested in him the mandate to realise the people’s aspirations for the future and to build a sustainable foundation for future generations.”

Recalling Peiris’s record of corruption, assaults on democracy and human rights and his very prominent role which nearly prevented the transition of power in 2015, he should have been the last person the new administration chose to represent Sri Lanka on the world stage.

It is still fresh in our collective memories how on the morning of 9 January 2015 as results of the Presidential elections were indicating a loss for the incumbent, Peiris, the sitting Chief Justice was at ‘Temple Trees’ plotting with Mahinda Rajapaksa to hold on to executive power by declaring an emergency and annulling the results of the election. This treacherous coup was only averted due to the integrity of then Inspector General of Police N.K. Illangakoon and Attorney General Yuwanjana Wijayatilake who refused to go ahead with the plan. 

Sri Lanka’s fragile democracy was saved by a whisker, but Peiris avoided any repercussions for his actions other than being ousted from his post. Instead in 2020, he was richly rewarded with a diplomatic posting as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his long-term political master. President Ranil Wickremesinghe too did not recall Peiris where he remains as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the UN to this day. 

In 2013 Pieris entered the Supreme Court through the ‘exit door’ with a large contingent of military personnel to be placed as the head of the judiciary. While holding the post of Chief Justice, Peiris famously proclaimed that the duty of the judiciary is to support the executive and informed the UN Committee on Torture that journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda was comfortably and safely living in a certain country. When called upon by a court of law to disclose which country that was, he replied, “Only God knows”. 

Presiding over a torture and custodial death case as “Chief Justice” Pieris once proclaimed from the bench that terror suspects have no human rights after the custodial death of PTA prisoner Ganesan Nimalaruban. In addition, there are numerous allegations of corruption and countless examples of conflicts of interest associated with Peiris during his tenure as politically appointed Attorney General and later Chief Justice.

Ironically, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake as an opposition lawmaker was at the forefront of the fight against the illegal impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and, and the eventual ousting of the ‘fake’ chief justice, Peiris. President Dissanayake’s administration was elected into office on a promise of ending political cronyism that had allowed the likes of Peiris to enjoy perks and avoid facing legal consequences for their actions under consecutive Governments. It is therefore extremely regrettable and deeply disappointing that the current administration had chosen such an individual to represent itself and Sri Lanka at the highest world stage.