Ex-Speaker KJ says laws of the land should be applied across the board

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Prof. Channa Jayasumana, MP, says Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena should take tangible measures to remove all dual citizens from Parliament.The Anuradhapura District rebel SLPP MP has asserted that nearly a dozen dual citizens remain in Parliament, though Basil Rajapaksa no longer serves as a member of Parliament. The then President Gotabaya, Rajapaksa in April, this year, dropped Basil Rajapaksa from the Cabinet of Ministers.Now that Parliament has overwhelmingly approved the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, it will be the Speaker’s responsibility to ensure the removal of dual citizens, unless they resigned, voluntarily, or gave up their respective foreign nationalities, Prof. Jayasumana argues.

The Parliament ratified the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, with a two-thirds majority, on Oct 21. of the 225 MPs, 174 members voted for the new law, while SLPP MP Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera voted against the 22nd Amendment.  The 22nd Amendment, that reactivated key provisions in the 19th Amendment had to be implemented across the board, lawmaker Jayasumana said.

Responding to The Island queries, MP Jayasumana said that he would take up this issue with Speaker Abeywardena. The former State and Cabinet Minister said that he would write to the Speaker, in this regard, within the next few days. The Speaker couldn’t absolve himself of the responsibility of ensuring all members of Parliament complied with the provision on dual citizenship, MP Jayasumana said.

Commenting on Dr. Prathibha Mahanamahewa’s assertion that the Supreme Court should be consulted, regarding the fate of the remaining members of Parliament, MP Jayasumana said that at the time of the last parliamentary poll, in August 2020, the 19th Amendment was in place. Therefore, there couldn’t be any issue regarding their removal, Prof. Jayasumana said. “In fact, they shouldn’t have contested the last parliamentary poll as the 19th Amendment, enacted in 2015, expressly prohibited dual citizens contesting parliamentary, or presidential polls. Actually, they should be dealt with for not declaring their status as dual citizens,” lawmaker Jayasumana said.

MP Jayasumana recalled how Galle District MP Geetha Kumarasinghe had been deprived of her parliamentary seat, in early 2017, on the basis of the 19th Amendment. The former actress renounced her Swiss nationality to pave the way for her to re-contest the general election, on the SLPP ticket.

There could be dual citizens among those who voted for the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, as well among the absentees, Prof. Jayasumana said. The MP declined to name the dual citizens in Parliament. The MP pointed out that Basil Rajapaksa had re-entered Parliament, in June 2021, after the enactment of the 20th Amendment, in Oct 2020.Prof. Jayasumana said political parties should have paid attention to the provision on dual citizenship, after the enactment of the 19th Amendment.

Former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday told The Island that laws of the land should be applied to all. Therefore, there was no harm in checking the status of all MPs, consequent to the passage of the 22nd Amendment. Jayasuriya said that during his tenure as the Speaker there hadn’t been dual citizens in Parliament apart from to Geetha Kumarasinghe, who lost her seat following a court ruling.