On March 03, 2023, the Supreme Court issued an order. That is, for the 2023 local government elections, the money allocated in the 2025 budget should be released immediately and the elections should be held. After this order was issued, Ranil came to the parliament and said that the court could not find money to hold elections. After that, the MP Premanath Dolawatta, who has now become Ranil’s bodyguard, made a special statement in the parliament and said that a parliamentary select committee should be appointed to investigate the actions of the Supreme Court judges who issued the interim order for the holding of local government elections. He said their order was a violation of parliamentary privilege. The speaker also accepted his proposal.
After that, another Podujana Peramuna member who has become Ranil’s protector, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe, made a statement in Parliament that it was a serious illegal act to implement the Supreme Court order before the Parliamentary Select Committee, which is looking into the actions of the judges who issued the interim order for the local government election, had given its report. Therefore, he asked the Deputy Speaker to advise the relevant parties not to follow the order given by the Supreme Court regarding the local government vote until the report comes.
Entire Opposition parties, Sri Lanka Bar Association and International Lawyers Association protested against the statements of the Speaker, Minister of State Shehan and MP Dolawatta. The select committee’s proposal to inquire into the judges who gave the interim order was not implemented. The interlocutory order given by the Supreme Court was not implemented. Ranil’s government was the first government after independence to trash a court order regarding an election in Sri Lanka without implementing it.
The government must have thought that the judges who give verdicts against the government will be called to the Parliamentary Selection Committee to intimidate the judges. It was after this that the Court of Appeal announced the decision in the British citizenship case of Diana Gamage, the National List Member of Parliament who was elected to the Parliament by the Samagi Jana Balavegaya and then cross to the government. The verdict was not in her favour. The same Judge the President of the Court of Appeal who gave this decision against the Cricket Interim Board appointed by Minister Roshan Ranasinghe.
The opposition leader and then Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe criticized the action of this judge in Parliament. Ranil came to Parliament and spoke in defence of this judge. Ranil proposed the name of that judge to the Supreme Court and sent it to the Legislative Assembly, but the majority of the Legislative Assembly did not approve it. Ranil publicly attacked the Constituent Assembly for not approving the judge’s name to the Constituent Assembly. Moreover, the pro-government supporters went to court against the former minister Roshan Ranasinghe saying that criticizing the judge in the Parliament was an insult to the judiciary. Also, a government supporter went to the Supreme Court against the decision taken by the Constituent Assembly not to appoint that judge to the Supreme Court.
It is clear from these incidents that the government is playing drama to show that the court is with them. Ranil became president went to law college and staged the first play. After that, a bar association formed by a member of the government organized a party in Nuwara Eliya with the President for all the judges. The legal profession celebrated Ranil’s golden jubilee of his entering to legal profession, the lawyers and judges were all organized to show that they were with Ranil.
Member of the Samagi Jana Balavegayaya Kiriella revealed in Parliament that a judge is deliberately delaying the writing of the judgment related to the expulsion of the party’s National List MP Harin Fernando and Galle District MP Manusha from the party. He said that delaying the writing of the third judge’s judgment while the other two judges had written their verdict raises a lot of doubts. When Kiriella made this statement, Sri Lankan MP Dayasiri Jayasekara made a statement and said that a presidential counsel is influencing court judges by selling Ranil’s name.
‘Ranil will postpone the presidential election by getting into some legal issue…’
‘Look at Ranil at the last minute; he will get the court to crush Samagi Jana Balawegaya…’
‘They would play a game in the court so that Sajith cannot become a candidate…’
This is the story that not only Ranil’s supporters but also Ranil’s opponents saw the drama that was shown to show that the court is with Ranil.
The Supreme Court gave an order to hold small polls. The order is in the trash. Who spoke?’
Geeta, a dual citizen, lost her membership as soon as the bill was passed banning dual citizens from holding council positions. Basil, a dual citizen, decided not to run for the position of MP. In 2022, Parliament brought the 21(A) constitutional amendment banning dual citizens again. Basil resigned from the parliament. But there is British citizen Diana. The Court of Appeal upheld it. The Supreme Court case against that decision was delayed. Diana danced the devil in Parliament…’
This is the story told not only in Colombo Seven but also by the people of the village.
It didn’t take long. Before the first day of May, the Supreme Court gave a decision that shook the country. That is, until October 04, the President is prohibited from nominating judges other than the Chief Justice to the Supreme Court. This decision was given in a case filed by a supporter of the government to order the Constituent Assembly to appoint a judge to the Supreme Court who had been rejected by the Constituent Assembly who had criticized the opposition. October 5, the country will have a new president who is elected by popular vote. By October 05, the power to nominate judges to the Supreme Court will go to the new president who is the popular choice by vote.
This decision will be a revolutionary decision. Ranil, who could not even be elected to the parliament by popular vote, became the president with the help of the Rajapakses, a decision that appeared like a dance in Aluthkade.
The next verdict was against Diana. Ranil’s government danced in Aluthkade by allowing British citizen Diana to remain a of Member of Parliament. British citizen Diana would have been a devil in the current parliament if not for the fight that social activist Oshala Herat against this. The government threw the court’s order that there was no obstacle to the arrest of Diana, who had violated the immigration laws, and Damita was arrested under the Immigration Act and put in jail during the Sinhala new year. Both former minister Roshan Ranasinghe and Oshala Herath, who challenged the rulings in favor of the government, were charged with contempt of court. But Oshala did not give up the fight.
Gotabhaya’s seat was heated by the struggle, but Ranil showed that it is not possible to heat his seat amidst a lakh of struggles. The local government vote order put into the trash. Diana, a British citizen, is in Parliament.
” Why do the laws and judges of that nation…” This question stirred shock among the populace. “The law belongs to you – the verdict favors the elite,”
declared the Supreme Court in two rulings, marking a triumph for the Aluthkade struggle
