Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has again warned that raising the retirement age of superior court judges could be a step towards one-party rule, returning to a line he has pressed for weeks as the constitutional amendment moves through its formal stages.
Speaking on Sunday at an event to establish the Ruwanwella branch of the Samagi Vanitha Balawegaya, Premadasa said the proposal requires a constitutional amendment and questioned why it had become a national priority while more pressing problems went unaddressed. The government should be dealing with fertiliser subsidies, irrigation rehabilitation and the state of the prison system instead, he said.
Extending judges’ tenure would not solve poverty, unemployment or the economic difficulties facing the public, he argued. Instead, he claimed, it could produce a system in which a single political party gains greater control over the state, weakening democratic institutions and judicial independence.
Allegations of pressure on the judiciary
Premadasa alleged the government is already exerting pressure on the judiciary as part of a broader effort to weaken democracy and consolidate political dominance. He also claimed that appointments to youth societies and civil security committees had been influenced by decisions taken at a political party office in Pelawatte.
LankaNewz has not independently verified those allegations, and the government had not responded to them in reporting available at the time of publication.
‘Not the mandate’
The Opposition Leader said the government could have used constitutional reform to strengthen the rights of women, children, senior citizens and other vulnerable groups but had not done so, and that the Samagi Jana Balawegaya is prepared to work towards making those rights constitutionally protected. Voters gave the government a mandate to build a prosperous country and improve living standards, he said, not to extend the retirement age of judges.
He also pointed to medicine shortages in state hospitals that he said were forcing patients to buy from private pharmacies.
The remarks track closely with those he made at a Tissamaharama farmers’ rally on July 31. The 22nd Amendment was gazetted on August 7, raising the Supreme Court retirement age to 67, alongside a separate bill enlarging the High Court bench.
