The drama over the ongoing attempt to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake is expected to end later this week with Parliament debating and voting on the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which found her guilty of three of the five charges examined.<\/p>\n
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“It will be all over by Jan. 11,\u2019\u2019 a well informed source said yesterday. “The writing is on the wall. Once Parliament votes on the resolution and an address is made to the President, she will be removed from office the next day.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
These sources were confident that there will be no change of stance by the government despite mounting pressure both locally and externally to defuse the situation by taking a step back.<\/p>\n
The Chief Justice\u2019s own writ application is due to be taken up by the Court of Appeal on Monday but it is unlikely that there will be a determination on that day, sources knowledgeable with court procedure said.<\/p>\n
“It is likely that it will be put off for Jan. 15 when other writ applications, including that of civil society activist Chandra Jayaratne, a former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, on which the Appeal Court sought and obtained a constitutional interpretation from the Supreme Court.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
This interpretation makes clear that the route of determining misbehaviour through the Parliamentary Select Committee process is not lawful.<\/p>\n
A meeting of party leaders will be held early this week, possibly tomorrow. However a party leader indicated yesterday that no meeting had yet been called as far as he knew. He thought such a meeting to fix business of the House will be scheduled for Tuesday.The Opposition is very likely to urge that a two-day debate, now being spoken of in government circles, is grossly inadequate for a matter as serious as the impeachment of a Chief Justice.<\/p>\n
“After all we were told 10 days earlier, so two days is certainly not enough,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
A further complicating factor is some remarks made by Public Relations and Public Affairs Minister Mervyn Silva at a news conference on Friday which some analyst believe can be construed of being in contempt of court. However there was no indication whether this matter will be pursued.<\/p>\n
There is every likelihood of crowds converging on parliament when the impeachment motion is voted on and arrangements for that are being made. There has also been talk of a march from Hultsdorf to parliament. There was no indication of whether such demonstrations will be permitted in the interest of law and order.<\/p>\n
Questions were also being asked on whether the CJ will submit herself to a dismissal in the light of court rulings on the matter. If the president goes ahead and appoints a new CJ then we will be in a situation where the country has two chief justices, an analyst said.<\/p>\n
“Remember the time that President Jayewardene tried to have two MPs for Kalawana?\u2019\u2019 a political analyst asked. “He ultimately backed down in the face of a Supreme Court ruling that the required constitutionl amendment, affecting the franchise of the people, required a referendum.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
So Mr. Sarath Muttetuwegama was the only MP for Kalawana.COURTESY:SUNDAY ISLAND<\/strong><\/p>\n