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Parliament in turmoil over unseating of Ramanayake

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By Saman Indrajith

Parliament sittings were suspended for several minutes yesterday following an uproar over the unseating of SJB’s Ranjan Ramanayake, who is currently servig a jail term. The SJB MPs staged the protest after Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that Ramanayake had lost his parliamentary seat owing to his conviction by the Supreme Court and incarceration.

The Speaker said: “I wish to bring to the notice of the House the correct position in respect of the letter that was sent by the Secretary General of Parliament informing the Chairman of the Election Commission that a vacancy has occurred in the membership of the Ninth Parliament due to the fact that Ranjan Ramanayake Member of Parliament for the Electoral District of Gampaha has ceased to be a Member of Parliament in terms of Article 66(d) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Ranjan Ramanayake was convicted by the Supreme Court on 12th January 2021 for the offence of contempt of court punishable under Article 105 (3) of the Constitution and was sentenced to a term of 4 years rigorous imprisonment. The conviction by the Supreme Court attracted the provisions of the Article 66 (d) of the Constitution which reads that “The seat of a Member shall become vacant if he becomes subject to any disqualification specified in Article 89 or 91. The Article 89 (d) of the Constitution goes on to say that ” No person shall be qualified to be an elector at an election of the President, or of the Members of Parliament or to vote at any Referendum if he is subject to any of the following disqualifications, namely, if he is serving or has during the period of seven years immediately preceding completed serving of a sentence of imprisonment (by whatever name called ) for a term not less than six months imposed after conviction by any court for an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than two years or is under sentence of death or is serving or has during the period of seven years immediately preceding completed the serving of a sentence of imprisonment for a term not less than six months awarded in lieu of execution of such sentence ; Provided that if any person disqualified under this paragraph is granted a free pardon such disqualification shall cease from the date on which the pardon is granted.

Accordingly, by operation of the law Ranjan Ramanayake would cease to be a Member of Parliament from the date the conviction was entered upon by the Supreme Court. However, Ranjan Ramanayake through his lawyers, petitioned the Court of Appeal by way of a writ application that by virtue of the conviction he would not lose his seat and requesting the court to grant a prohibition or a restraining order preventing the Secretary General of Parliament from informing the Chairman of the Election Commission that a vacancy has arisen in the ninth Parliament consequent to Ranjan Ramanayake vacating his seat. The Court of Appeal has not accepted this position and has dismissed the case without issuing any formal notice to the Respondents. With the dismissal of the writ application before the Court of Appeal the temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeal preventing the Secretary General of Parliament from informing the Chairman of the Election Commission regarding the vacancy has also ceased to exist.

In the circumstances, once all the above requirements are fulfilled under Article 89 (d) of the Constitution to quote the very Order of the Court of Appeal in the writ matter in connection with this case it is stated as follows; “I do agree with the submission of the learned Senior Additional Solicitor General that the act of sending a communication to the Election Commission under Section 64 (1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act would tantamount to a physical act by the 1 st Respondent short of an exercise of power. In other words, with a vacancy staring in his face the Secretary General has no option but he is required by law to inform the Election Commission of such vacancy. In doing so he is carrying out a purely ministerial act. I have already referred to the fact that the exercise of a purely ministerial act is not subject to be quashed by a writ of certiorari nor is such an exercise subject to any restriction by a writ of prohibition. If the Secretary General fails to act at that stage, a writ of mandamus would lie to compel him to perform his legal duty.”

The reason for me to make this announcement is that yesterday in the House, the Leader of the Opposition made a statement that the Secretary General of Parliament has taken steps to inform the Chairman of the Election Commission that Ranjan Ramanayake has vacated his seat due to non-attendance of Parliament for a period of 3 months and the non-acceptance of his leave motion also contributed to this situation. As indicated above, I would like to inform the Leader of the Opposition that this position is not correct and the vacation of seat by a Member of Parliament for non-attendance for 3 months is envisaged in the Constitution in Article 66 (f) whereas the letter sent by the Secretary General is under Article 66 (d) the content of which has been explained above.

I wish to bring this matter to the notice of the House to provide greater clarity on this issue.”

SJB MPs wore black armbands to voice their objection to the decision taken by the Speaker to remove MP Ramanayake’s Parliamentary seat.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa accused Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena of being part of a conspiracy to remove Ramanayake from Parliament.

Following their protest, the sittings were suspended and after several minutes the House resumed its sittings.



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SJB, JVP move SC against Finance Secy. for contempt of court

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The main Opposition, Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) yesterday (21) moved Supreme Court against Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana over his failure to provide funds required by the Election Commission to conduct the Local Government polls, ignoring an interim order issued by the apex court, on 03 March.

Ranjith Madduma Bandara, MP, is the petitioner for the SJB and Vijitha Herath, MP, moved court on behalf of the JVP, the leading party in the Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB).

Two Opposition parties declared action against Siriwardana the day after the Freedom People’s Alliance (FPA) issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Finance Secretary to release the funds.

EC Chairman Nimal Punchihewa is on record as having said that in spite of SC directive he didn’t receive fresh funding.

The petitioners sought the issuance of summons on Siriwardana for contempt of court over failure to carry out its interim orders, given on 03 March.

The petitioners want the Finance Secretary punished in terms of Article 105 (3) of the Constitution.

The SJB stated that Siriwardana had refrained from carrying out the March directives, on the basis of a Cabinet decision, taken on 13 Feb., 2023. The SJB also pointed out that the offensive conduct of the Treasury Secretary, inter alia, causes grave prejudice to the esteemed authority of the Supreme Court and in turn disturb the public confidence in the authority of the highest Court in the country. (SF)

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Minister indicates reduction in fuel prices in April

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Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara told Parliament yesterday that fuel prices would be reduced considerably according to the fuel price formula at the next fuel price revision, due in April.

The Minister said that the government would be able to procure fuel shipments, at lower prices, during competitive bidding, with the receipt of the IMF bailout.

There had been practical issues, and problems, in opening Letters of Credit, and obtaining credit facilities, in the recent past, as Sri Lanka could not give a guarantee to fuel suppliers, Minister Wijesekara said.

“We could not open LCs and obtain credit facilities when procuring fuel. After the IMF bailout, we will be able to procure fuel at lower prices during competitive biddings. We will be able to obtain a long-term credit facility as well. Fuel prices in the global market seem to have declined and the rupee has also gained strength against the US Dollar. Having considered all these factors, fuel prices will be reduced by a considerable margin which could be felt by the people,” he said.

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IGP tells CID not to brook any interference from any quarter while they probe ’Harak Kata’ and ‘Kudu Salindu’

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By Norman Palihawadane

IGP CD Wickramaratne has directed the CID to maintain a special log of names and details of any attempts by external parties to influene the ongoing investigations on notorious drug traffickers Nandun Chinthaka Wickramaratne aka Harak Kata and Salindu Malshika aka Kudu Salindu.

The suspects are currently under the custody of the CID.

The IGP issued the orders to the DIG CID and its director during a meeting of senior police officers on Monday, police headquarters said.

Sources said that the IGP has further instructed not to allow statements from the detainees to be taken by any police team other than the team currently investigating the suspects.

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