The ruling Democratic Party (DP) Monday (9) expelled the head of Jindo County over his recent disputed call to bring in women from Vietnam and Sri Lanka to address population decline.

News agencies quoted DP spokesperson Park Soo-hyun as having said that the DP’s Supreme Council unanimously voted to kick out Kim Hee-su, the county chief of Jindo in South Jeolla Province, for what the party called derogatory remarks.

The decision came five days after Kim proposed “importing young women from Vietnam and Sri Lanka” to marry young men in rural areas during a televised town hall meeting in South Jeolla last Wednesday, triggering public outrage.

Kim issued an apology the following day, saying his remarks were intended to highlight structural problems facing rural regions, including severe population decline and the “weakening foundations for marriage,” and to stress the need for a merger between South Jeolla Province and Gwangju.

In response, the Vietnamese Embassy in Seoul sent a letter to the province in protest of Kim’s remarks.

South Jeolla Province earlier said it extended its apology to the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnamese government, as well as to the Vietnamese people and women who were “deeply hurt” by Kim’s “inappropriate remarks.”

There has, however, been no reaction from Colombo to the proposal to import Lankan prospective brides.

Dayasiri questions legitimacy of appointments made by Council

The Constitutional Council (CC) should ask its head, Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, to step down temporarily pending an investigation by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) into a complaint lodged by sacked Deputy Secretary General of Parliament Chaminda Kularatne, SJB MP Dayasiri Jayasekera has said.

Former Minister Jayasekera said so in response to The Island queries pertaining to Kularatne’s recent complaint to the CIABOC.

Jayasekera pointed out that the CC, which is responsible for key appointments, couldn’t afford to have a person under CIABOC investigation as its head. “We have never experienced a similar situation since the establishment of the CC in 2000,” the Kurunegala District lawmaker said.

Parliament introduced CC under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. It was abolished in 2010, reinstated in 2015 through the 19th Amendment, then replaced by a Parliamentary Council in 2020, and reintroduced via the 21st Amendment in October 2022.

MP Jayasekera said that the NPP government had turned a blind eye to his recent request made in Parliament for the Speaker to step down. He said that subsequently he had discussed the issue with other MPs and they were of the view that Dr. Wickramaratne’s continuation as the Chairman of the CC undermined the integrity of the council.

A parliamentary committee headed by Dr. Wickramaratne sacked Kularatne on January 23 over alleged irregularities pertaining to his appointment as Deputy Secretary General of Parliament and Chief of Staff. Kularatne lodged the complaint with the CIABOC on 2 February.

Austin Fernando, Professor Wasantha Seneviratne and Ranjith Ariyaratne were appointed as non-Members of Parliament to the CC on 23 January, the day Parliament sacked Kularatne.

MP Jayasekera said that the CC should discuss the issue with the Speaker. Political parties represented in parliament should intervene to ensure that the controversy over the Speaker’s conduct didn’t undermine the apex body.

The CC consists of Prime Minister Dr.  Harini Amarasuriya (Ex-officio), Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne (Ex-officio), Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa (Ex-officio), one MP appointed by the President (Bimal Rathnayake), five persons appointed by the President, upon being nominated as follows: one MP nominated by agreement of the majority of the Members of Parliament representing the Government (Aboobucker Athambawa, M.P), one MP nominated by agreement of the majority of the MPs of the political party or independent group to which the Leader of the Opposition belongs—Ajith P. Perera—and three persons nominated by the Speaker by agreement of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition—Austin Fernando, Professor Wasantha Seneviratne and Ranjith Ariyaratne—and one MP nominated by agreement of the MPs other than those representing the Government and those belonging to the political party or independent group to which the Leader of the Opposition belongs, and appointed by the President (Sivagnanam Shritharan, M.P).

The CC recommend nominations to the President for the appointment of Chairpersons and Members of Election Commission, Public Service Commission, National Police Commission, Audit Service Commission, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, Finance Commission, Delimitation Commission and National Procurement Commission.

Jayasekera asked how Dr. Wickramaratne could continue as CC head as appointments to CIABOC, too, are made by the 10-member body.

The CC also approve/disapprove recommendations by the President for the appointment Chief Justice and the Judges of the Supreme Court, President and the Judges of the Court of Appeal, Members of the Judicial Service Commission, other than the Chairman, Attorney-General, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Auditor-General, Inspector-General of Police, Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman) and Secretary General of Parliament.

MP Jayasekera said that it would be really interesting to see the response of the newly appointed civil society members to the developing situation. The SJBer pointed out that the recent appointment of Samudika Jayaratne, a Senior Deputy Auditor General as the Auditor General was made after Kularatne moved the CIABOC against the Speaker.

The JVP and NPP, having preached other political parties of transparency, couldn’t pretend the Speaker’s issue was not serious. Dr. Wickramaratne was appointed Speaker in Dec 2024 after Asoka Ranwala had to step down after being exposed for making false higher education qualifications.

by Shamindra Ferdinando

The Electricity Consumers’ Association (ECA) Friday (6) called on newly appointed Auditor General Samudika Jayarathne to begin her tenure by launching an investigation into the controversial coal procurement deal, which has drawn widespread public criticism.

Addressing a media briefing in Marandagahamula, Gampaha, ECA Secretary, Sanjeewa Dhammika, said the probe should be conducted independently. The appointment of a new Auditor General, following a vacancy of nearly six to seven months, was a crucial step in restoring the effectiveness of the state audit system, he said, extending congratulations to Jayarathne.

Dhammika urged the Auditor General to carry out a swift, independent investigation into the questionable coal procurement deals, alleging that they had caused significant economic and environmental harm to the country.

He called for the findings of such an investigation to be disclosed to the public as a priority.

He also called for an immediate audit of Lanka Transformer Ltd, which has faced severe criticism from the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE). Dhammika said the audit should reveal details of alleged irregularities, identify those responsible, and disclose any misuse of public funds.

Noting that the government held a substantial share in Lanka Transformer Ltd, he stressed that the matter constituted a direct responsibility of the State.

“The audit system should not function to provide political protection, but to safeguard public funds,” Dhammika said, adding that the Association expected the new Auditor General to uphold this principle.

By Anuradha Hiripitiyage