(Questions at the dinner meeting for national newspaper editors and electronic media heads were answered by President Mahinda Rajapaksa sometimes with interceptions by External Affairs Minister Peiris)

Here are edited excerpts:

“Q: Was there any adverse effect on the country due to the impeachment?

“President:

I don’t think so. What was initiated was not politically motivated. It is Parliament which has the powers regarding the disciplinary issues on the Chief Justice. Constitutionally the powers have been vested with Parliament. It was only exercising its powers under the Constitution.

Also do not forget who called for investigations on the Chief Justice (ShraniBandaranayake) and her husband (Pradeepa Kariyawasam). It was the JVP which first called for such investigations. It was followed by the UNP. They carried out a strong campaign and built opinion on this. When there is an opinion built on an issue the Government cannot ignore it. Even the media built an opinion on it, the Government is sensitive to it.

“The Government respected the media and acted according to the Constitution.
There are shortcomings which need to be corrected in the Constitution.

No one questions the authority of the Judiciary. Under this impeachment process I do not have the power to stop it. However, to ensure that the decision was correct I consulted four persons. One of them was Sri Lankan born Australian citizen Prof. Mark Cooray. He has written about 50 books and published about 450 articles in journals and newspapers. He also has been consulted by Australia, England and New Zealand and lectured to Judges in Britain. This is because I wanted to make sure that the decision was correct.

“Q: Who were the three others you consulted?

“President: They said not to disclose their names. One of them has been in the field of bank administration for more than 30 years. Others were in the legal field.

“Q: Did they give the same opinion?

“President: Yes, all four gave the same response.

“President: The opposition was making a huge issue on this. They did not allow me to watch a match peacefully. If I was in the opposition I will do the same. But this situation should change. After suffering from a war of thirty years this situation should change.

“Q: You said there was no adverse effect locally, what about the international repercussions?

“President: There are some from within the country who capitalise on this situation. They keep on writing letters and they continue to do so.

“G.L Perris: Even before this issue came up, there were protests.

“President: Yes, these protests have been continuing. They were there in the past.

“Q: Do you say there was no harm done to the judiciary?

“President: No harm at all.

“Q: What about disregarding the Supreme Court determination?

“President: It is Parliament which has the power. You should consider the powers vested with the legislature. No one questions the powers of the Supreme Court. How many cases have been dismissed on technical points or judgments? But the Standing Orders of Parliament are very clear and Parliament has acted accordingly.

“Q: In the impeachment motion there were allegations against the Chief Justice. What happens to them?

“President: The respective institutions such as the Bribery Commission should look into them. It was the JVP which first went to the Bribery Commission.

“Q: What about the Constitutional amendments?

“President: A Committee will be appointed for this. If you think that it was due to a certain Bill that the action was taken, that is not correct. If that was the case we should have taken action when amendments to the Appropriation Bill were suggested. This has been something which has been there since 1975. In fact one of the judges who gave the decision had approved it in the previous year.

“Q: Since you have a two thirds majority in Parliament, isn’t it time to think of the Constitutional amendments?

“President: That is the reason we have proposed a Parliamentary Select Committee. This is not only for the ethnic question. If I do something on my own they will say that I am a dictator. We should not only talk about them.

“Q: There is a controversy by appointing a legal adviser to the Cabinet as the Chief Justice.

“President: There have been times when Central Committee members of the party have been appointed as judges. There were some others who came on stage for elections and were appointed as judges. What is wrong in advising the government. Normally the senior lawyers are with the UNP. One of the recently appointed President’s Counsel also appeared against us.

“I think the Chief Justice (Mohan Peiris) is an independent person. Even the lawyers who said they were boycotting the ceremonial sitting turned up for the event. Senior lawyers were present. The boycott was a failure. When she (ShiraniBandaranayake) was appointed to the bench there were petitions that she was not even a Magistrate.courtesy:sunday times