By Harischandra Gunaratna
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila yesterday said, according to article 41(C1) of the country’s constitution, when the President recommends someone for a post to the Constitutional Council (CC), the job of the CC was to either endorse it or reject it.
A few months ago, Gammanpila recalled that the President sent names of three persons to the CC for the post of Attorney General, the CC informed the President that he only had to recommend one person and the CC could not select a person from among three names.
Thereafter the President named Jayantha Jayasuriya for the post.
But within a short period of three months he had forgotten the constitutional requirement and once again sent three names to the CC for the post of IGP, the PHU leader pointed out.
“What I learnt was that the President and the Prime Minister had two different officers in their minds for the post of IGP. But, it is possible that the Constitutional Council had doubts, if it told the President to name one person, the latter would not name the one that they had in mind,” Gammanpila said.
Addressing the media at PHU headquarters in Pita-Kotte, Gammanpila said, the opinion, when appointing a person to a high and a crucial post such as the IGP, was that it could not be done on personal relationships, but on certain policies and principles, Gammanpila said adding that the CC was given the responsibility with the notion that it would act on accepted norms and principles where the appointment of IGP was concerned, however it had failed in its duty and lost the trust placed on it by the masses.
The UPFA politician said, when appointing the Attorney General, the most senior officer Suhada Gamlath was ignored and Jayantha Jayasuriya was given the post and the government failed to answer why it did so and now appointing the IGP, once again the CC had failed to recommend the most senior officer S. M. Wickramasinghe and instead recommended Pujith Jayasundara.
Gammanpila flayed the government for allowing Megapolis Minister Patalee Chamipka Ranawaka who had been under four separate police investigations as a member of the Constitutional Council that picked the IGP and said the Joint Opposition objected to Gammanpila sitting in the CC where the recommendation of IGP was concerned and requested it to appoint another person instead, but it conveniently ignored our warning for reasons best known to them.
On the other hand the latest investigation, where Champika Ranawaka was the main suspect where the former had driven a government SUV, collided with a motorcycle and caused serious injuries to Sandeep Gunawardena was handled by Pujith Jayasundara and it was a travesty of justice that Ranawaka had become the saviour of Jayasundara for Jayasundara helped Ranawaka when he was in serious trouble, Gammanpila said.
Courtesy:The Island