Serious questions about future of SL democracy: US

• Tells Colombo to ‘roll up sleeves and work on it’

The US believes there are serious questions regarding the future of Sri Lanka’s democracy following the dismissal of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake in defiance of a Supreme Court order, the US State Department warned yesterday.

US State Department Spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington yesterday that the impeachment process raised “serious questions” about the separation of powers in Sri Lanka, which she called a “fundamental tenet of a healthy democracy”.

Expressing the “deep concern” of the US Government regarding the impeachment of Bandaranayake, Nuland said: “As you know, the impeachment proceedings against her were conducted in defiance of a Supreme Court order.”

She said that the US had repeatedly conveyed to the Sri Lankan Government that it was concerned about the lack of due process. “We have also made very clear our view that actions undermining an independent Judiciary would impact on Sri Lanka’s ability to attract foreign investment,” the State Department Spokesman said.

Nuland said the United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union, and the United Nations had all issued statements expressing strong concerns about this process.“We think that there are serious questions about the health and future of Sri Lanka’s democracy and that they really need to roll up their sleeves and work on it,” she added.

(DB)