News

FR filed challenging RW’s candidacy

Published

1 month ago

August 14, 2024

editor

A fundamental rights petition was filed before the Supreme Court today seeking an interim injunction preventing Ranil Wickremesinghe from contesting in the Presidential Election on the 21st of September 2024.

The petition was filed by Attorney-At-Law R.S.P. Ranasuriya.

The petitioner is seeking a determination stating that the President is unsuitable to contest the Presidential Election as he violated the Constitution by disregarding a Supreme Court determination.

The petitioner states that Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken oaths as President under Article 30(1) of the Constitution, and as such has pledged to uphold the Constitution.

The petition further states that according to Article 107(7) of the Constitution, he is vested with powers to appoint Justices to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

The petition highlights that the President’s nomination to promote Court of Appeal Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne as a Justice of the Supreme Court was not implemented as it did not receive approval from the Constitutional Council, and as such there are two vacancies for Supreme Court Justices and five vacancies in the Court of Appeal.

The petitioner points out that several fundamental rights petitions were filed before the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of Deshabandu Tennakoon as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), highlighting that the Supreme Court, which allowed the hearing of those petitions, issued an interim order on the 24th of July, preventing Deshabandu Tennakoon from exercising his duties and powers as the IGP.

In pointing out that there is no obstacle for the President to appoint an Acting IGP according to the interim order, the petitioner states that the President appointed Minister Ali Sabry as the Minister of Justice, after claiming that he was unable to appoint an Acting IGP as he was a Presidential candidate.

The petitioner states that the President has violated the provisions of the Constitution by failing to appoint Justices to the Supreme Court in accordance with the Constitution, and threatened public safety by failing to appoint an Acting IGP.

The petition further states that the President has intentionally violated the Constitution and abused his power through these actions, and is therefore, unfit to be a Presidential candidate.

The petitioner is also seeking an order stating that the President has violated the fundamental rights of the people through these actions and for an order to appoint a suitable Senior DIG from the Police Department as Acting IGP.

The petitioner has accordingly sought a Supreme Court ruling holding that the President is unfit to contest the upcoming Presidential Election.

(newsfirst.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by newsfirst.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

News

China explains their ‘silence’ over research ship issue in Sri Lanka (Pics)

Published

5 hours ago

September 13, 2024

editor

A top Chinese diplomat in Sri Lanka has said that some countries consider Sri Lanka’s barring of scientific research vessels including those from China, as a diplomatic victory.

Speaking during an interactive session with a group of journalists at the Colombo Port City yesterday (Sep. 12), Deputy Chief of the Chinese embassy in Colombo, Yanwei Zhu said that widespread public concern was raised on Chinese social media over the matter, wondering as to why Sri Lanka, as a friendly nation, had taken such a measure.

Mr. Yanwei said that China fully respects the decision of Sri Lanka as an independent and sovereign nation.

However, he said that there is an issue whether the decision was actually made by the Sri Lanka government independently or otherwise.

“Another issue is whether this decision is made by Sri Lanka government independently or because of outside pressure. To be honest, we heard a lot of rumours… When Sri Lanka government made such a decision, China kept silent… Because we respect our friend… We understand the difficult situation our friend has been facing since last two years. Because some countries took advantage of the difficulty of Sri Lanka and gave a lot of pressure to our Sri Lankan friends,” he said.

We do not want to put our friends in an awkward situation. Therefore we kept silent, he said.

However ‘some friends’ considered the decision to bar scientific research vessels as a ‘diplomatic victory’, Mr. Yanwei said.

History and future will prove to our Sri Lankan friends that China is the real good friend and partner and we are ready to walk together with Sri Lanka, he added.

He also pointed out that the research onboard such vessels are not done alone by China but done in collaboration with Sri Lanka, which lacks the capacity to conduct such research on its own.

He questioned which other country with the capacity and willingness has stepped into conduct joint research in this manner with Sri Lanka.

Without the permission of Sri Lanka, the information of this research cannot be shared with anyone, he emphasized.

Addressing the event, Chinese ambassador in Sri Lanka – Mr. Qi Zhenhong reiterated that the friendship between China can be traced back to 2,000 years.

Speaking on the upcoming election in Sri Lanka, the ambassador further said that if the new government is prepared to strengthen ties with China, they are always willing to remain open to promote friendship and cooperation.

(Pics : Kelum Shivantha | Shanika Jayasekara)

News

Sri Lanka to lift all vehicle import restrictions by Feb. 2025

Published

6 hours ago

September 13, 2024

editor

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers has decided to lift all vehicle import restrictions by February 2025, according to Foreign Minister Ali Sabry.

“With the significant improvement in forex reserves and the strength of the rupee, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to lift all vehicle import ban/restrictions by February 2025. This decision is part of our ongoing efforts to restore normalcy in the economy and meet the needs of our people,” he has said on a X post (formerly Twitter).