මේව දැකල පණ පලයන් පෙරේදා
Ivan recounts eight numbered first-person incidents about the judiciary: a former PA minister urging a friend to ‘shape’ Ivan over the Chief Justice; a judge’s tale of a colleague who fathered his maid’s child; a journalist spreading word that the government would drop impeachment; talk with an Attorney General’s officer; a judge’s account of W.J.M. Lokubandara’s changed stance; a Constitutional Council member alleged to draw his daughter’s salary; a bribe paid for Sirimavo Bandaranaike in the SLFP case; and Abeysinghe, who tried to strangle Lenin Ratnayake.
කෙළවර කුමක් ද?
Ivan explains that the 1978 Constitution assumed one party would hold both presidency and Parliament, and recalls how France and D.B. Wijetunga avoided conflict under cohabitation. Chandrika Kumaratunga could have conceded power or resigned after 2001 but chose confrontation, while the Prime Minister’s investigations of her corruption and crimes now give him the advantage. He sets out the likeliest course of the conflict, ending in impeachment, an election or her loss of office.
අධිකරණ ඇමතිතුමනි,
An open letter to Justice Minister W.J.M. Lokubandara setting out police evidence on the 14th impeachment charge against Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva: his close ties to Rohana Kumara, alleged mastermind of the Wijekoon murder, who lived at the official residence, used ministry vehicles and posed as his secretary. Quoting statements by Lakshmi Kusumalatha, hotel manager Ranjith Kaluarachchi and Godamunne Pannananda Thera, phone records and gate logs, it asks why the Chief Justice has not been questioned.
අගවිනිසුරු සරත් නන්ද සිල්වා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්රතිපත්තිය කුමක්ද?
Ivan calls the Kumaratunga era the most shameless assault on the Supreme Court’s independence, with a Chief Justice appointed while himself facing charges, political cases routed to benches he sat on, and dissenting judges pushed out. The UNP’s impeachment motion lapsed with the dissolution of Parliament, yet the new UNF government keeps him in office despite objections from the UN rapporteur Param Cumaraswamy, Mary Robinson, the International Commission of Jurists and the International Bar Association.
ජනාධිපතිනියගේ මුක්තිය සීමා කිරීම
The proposed constitutional amendment would limit the President’s immunity, which Ivan welcomes. He argues that a head of state who commits crimes, fraud or wilful breaches of the constitution should be liable to prosecution and lose office on conviction without impeachment, noting that the President ignored the 17th Amendment and used her security staff against opponents under the shelter of immunity.
17 වැනි සංශෝධනයට කොකා පෙන්නීම
Ivan explains that the 17th Amendment gives the Constitutional Council power over the independent commissions and top appointments, yet the President has still not named her nominee despite Article 41(5). He argues that she is protecting her hold over the Chief Justice, Attorney General, IGP and Bribery Commission, since a council would weaken her defence against impeachment and against the Padiyapelella rocket-launcher case linked to a plot to kill S.B. Dissanayake.
ජනාධිපතිනිය පෙනය පිප්පීම ඇරඹීම
Ivan notes that Chandrika Kumaratunga presents herself abroad as a supporter of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s peace effort while telling supporters at Horagolla that the UNP owes its victory to the LTTE and she will resist any sell-out. He faults the Prime Minister for not reforming his uncle J.R. Jayewardene’s constitution as France did for cohabitation, and proposes curbing presidential powers and simplifying the impeachment procedure, which he calls unique in the world.
රාවය කර්තෘගෙන් අගවිනිසුරුට එරෙහිව කථානායකට පැමිණිල්ලක්
A formal complaint to Speaker Joseph Michael Perera asking Parliament to investigate Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva’s association with Rohana Kumara, a fraudster and suspect in the Peradeniya gardens murder of Ranjith Bandara Wijekoon. It details Kumara’s record, his role at the judges’ training institute, minute-by-minute phone records linking him to the gunman and to the Chief Justice’s residence, the property dispute behind the killing, forged fundamental rights petitions, and exhibits.
අගවිනිසුරු සම්බන්ධයෙන් අනුගමනය කරන්නට යන පිළිවෙත කුමක් ද?
Referring to that week’s Ravaya lead story on the Chief Justice’s links with the criminal Rohana Kumara, a charge already in the UNP–JVP impeachment motion, the editorial says Sarath N. Silva has disgraced his office. It notes that the new government has done nothing, and urges it to restore judicial independence before any other reform.
President may face impeachment
During the campaign the President boasted of her wide powers, and after the United National Front won she did not pick a fight with the winner by flourishing them. She has handed over internal administration and remains chief executive, commander-in-chief, and the holder of a private army of thousands.