The Government Medical Officers’ Association and the Government Dental Surgeons’ Association have decided to jointly oppose the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, Ada Derana reported.
The two professional bodies have also agreed to work alongside other professional organisations, including the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, in voicing that opposition. They are expected to coordinate with those groups in deciding what further action to take.
A second professional body joins the BASL
The move widens opposition to the amendment beyond the legal profession. The Railway Station Masters’ Association declared its support for the BASL’s position on 28 August; the GMOA and the dental surgeons’ association are the next trade bodies to align themselves with it.
Opposition from professional and civil society groups has centred on the amendment’s provisions extending the mandatory retirement age of superior court judges. The bill would raise the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 and of Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65.
The Bar Association has been the most persistent objector, arguing the change threatens judicial independence. It has since converted its request for a full bench into a formal Supreme Court motion. The government rejects that reading: President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has defended the amendment as a measure to speed up justice, and Colombo has told a UN special rapporteur that the change is not aimed at particular judges.
Timing
Cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa has said the parliamentary debate on the amendment is expected at the end of September or in early October, after the Supreme Court completes its determination.
The GMOA’s intervention comes a day after the association warned of divisions among specialist and non-specialist doctors on a separate matter.
Ada Derana did not report the reasoning either association gave for its decision, name the office-bearers who took it, or say what form the joint action might take. No other verified Sri Lankan newsroom had reported the decision at the time of writing.
