The political row over President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s May Day remarks about a forthcoming court verdict widened on Tuesday, with the Joint Opposition and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) accusing him of attacking the independence of the judiciary as Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara dismissed the criticism as deliberate misinterpretation.
Former Minister and law academic Prof. G.L. Peiris, addressing the media at Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Flower Road office, alleged that the President’s declaration on the impending verdict clearly indicated he was aware of its outcome — amounting to a violation of the Constitution. Speaking, he said, as a law academic rather than a politician, Peiris said a judge “could not, under any circumstances, discuss a verdict with a third party” and that the President had “directly intervened in a case and brought pressure on a judge.”
“How could the President ask the people to celebrate a particular judgement unless he was briefed of its outcome?” he asked. Peiris said the Joint Opposition would soon write to Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and stressed that the Supreme Court had a responsibility to take “tangible measures” to protect judicial independence.
SLPP National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa, addressing the media in Kalutara, said it had become evident during May Day proceedings that “key decisions were being communicated from the JVP,” raising concerns about the separation of powers. “If the President believes he can deliver court rulings in such a manner while ignoring public concerns, we will respond accordingly,” he said. Namal also alleged increasing political influence within the police, citing a recent case where police declared a death a suicide before the autopsy was complete.
Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara, an attorney-at-law, rejected the criticism. He told The Island that the President “has never interfered with the judiciary, under any circumstances” and that the NPP had no need to do so. He said those raising the alarm were “those who had been on the wrong side of the law” and were now “acting as paragons of virtue,” accusing the Opposition of trying to “cause public uproar.”
Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa pressed the same line at the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday, telling reporters there was nothing unusual about referring to scheduled proceedings because the dates were already in the public domain. “These dates are no secret, they are already known. What was said on May Day platforms reflects that reality,” he said. Jayatissa said the parties involved in the cases and members of the public who follow such matters were generally aware of the hearing dates and pending verdicts, and read out a list of pending verdicts and upcoming hearing dates which he said he had compiled by tracking news reports and court records.
The cluster broadens the Free Lawyers and Sarvajana Balaya criticism reported earlier into a multi-party opposition front and now carries two formal government rebuttals — from the Justice Minister and the Cabinet Spokesman — to the row that began with the President’s May 1 address at Maharagama referencing a verdict due to be delivered later this month.
Sources: The Island — Peiris; The Island — Namal; The Island — Justice Minister; Daily FT — Nalinda Jayatissa.
