{"id":52813,"date":"2017-05-12T03:33:57","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T07:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=52813"},"modified":"2017-05-12T04:06:35","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T08:06:35","slug":"geetha-gotabhaya-and-the-political-implications-of-dual-citizenship-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=52813","title":{"rendered":"Geetha, Gotabhaya And The Political Implications of Dual Citizenship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By D.B.S.Jeyaraj<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kumara Vidugalage Dona Geetha Samanmalee Kumarasingha popularly known as Geetha Kumarasinghe is in the eye of a politico-legal storm. The glamorous actress turned politician who was elected to Parliament in August 2015 from the Galle district on the United Peoples Freedom Alliance(UPFA) ticket has been unseated by an Appeal court ruling.<\/p>\n

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Pics courtesy of: fb\/pg\/GeethaSamanmaleeKumarasinghe & facebook.com\/FCASLANKA<\/p><\/div>\n

According to newspaper reports the Court of Appeal on May 3rd 2017 issued a Writ of Quo Warranto disqualifying the UPFA Member of Parliament from holding office as an MP because Ms. Geetha Kumarasinghe was holding dual citizenship at the time of seeking nomination to enter Parliament. She was a citizen of Switzerland as well as Sri Lanka.
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\nConsequent to the 19th amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, no person can be elected to Parliament if they hold dual citizenship. The 19th Amendment enacted hastily after President Maithripala Sirisena was elected to office in January 2015 re- introduced the two term limit on the number of terms a person could hold office as President.According to Clause 4 of the 19th Amendment and Article 31(2) of the Constitution, a person who has been twice elected as President is disqualified from contesting for a third time. Likewise the 19th Constitutional amendment also debarred persons holding office from becoming an MP or President of Sri Lanka. As per Art 92 (b) and Clause 20 (4) of the 19th Amendment, and Article 91(1)(d)(xiii) of the Constitution, persons who are dual citizens are disqualified from being elected as Members of Parliament or the President of the Republic. The Constitution stipulates – “No person shall be qualified to be elected as a Member of Parliament or to sit and vote in Parliament if;(d) (xiii) \u201ca citizen of Sri Lanka who is also a citizen of any other country;\u201d<\/p>\n

The post – 19th Amendment constitutional position regarding dual citizens right to contest elections was firmly established by the Court of Appeal on May 3, when it unseated Galle district MP, Geetha Kumarasinghe, for failing to negate her dual citizen status by renouncing her Swiss nationality before she contested for parliament in August 2015. Court held that under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, a dual citizen is not eligible to contest for Parliamentary membership and therefore ms.Kumarasinghe could no longer function as a Parliamentarian. The bench comprised Justice Vijith Malalgoda the President of the court of appeal and Justice Preethi Padman Surasena.Justice Preethi Padman Surasena with Justice Vijith Malalgoda concurring also directed the State to recover costs from ms.Kumarasinghe for each day she sat in Parliament knowing that she was a dual citizen and being disqualified to be a Member of Parliament.<\/p>\n

Citizen of Switzerland<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier the Attorney General had informed the Court of Appeal that MP Geetha Kumarasinghe was still a citizen of Switzerland and that according to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, a person who held dual citizenship cannot be an MP.Deputy Solicitor General Janak De Silva also informed Court that, according to Clause 91(1) of the Constitution, Ms.Kumarasinghe was not entitled to Parliamentary privileges and could not be a Member of Parliament.<\/p>\n

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Geetha Kumarasinghe on Sarasaviya<\/p><\/div>\n

According to newspaper reports , Deputy Solicitor General Janak de Silva making submissions to Court based on recommendations from the Attorney General stated that Kumarasinghe possessed citizenship in Switzerland at the time that nominations were called for the last Parliamentary election here.The DSG told Court that Kumarasinghe could not lay claim to any privileges provided to MPs when she continued in the capacity of an MP while holding dual citizenship status, because this construed a direct violation of Clause 91 (1) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.De Silva told Court that though the respondent had claimed in the recent past that she had given up her dual citizenship, she had failed to sustain that statement with either written documentary proof or otherwise.He further told Court that despite the Controller of Emigration and Immigration having directed her officially, in writing, to furnish the necessary documents based on advice received from the AG, Kumarasinghe had failed to respond to date. This too, he said, was a direct violation of the Elections Act as well.<\/p>\n

The dual citizenship issue arose when five voters of the Galle District filed a petition in the Court of Appeal requesting Court to declare Ms.Kumarasinghe ineligible to remain as a Parliamentarian while holding dual citizenship.Petitioners in their Writ application challenged her appointment and\/or election as the Member of Parliament.The Petitioners were W.W.E. Buweneka, J.K. Amarawardhana, A.C. Gunasekera, J.K. Wijesinghe and Prasanna Deepthilal from Galle electoral district.. They cited Geetha Sammanmalee Kumarasinghe, Controller of Immigration and Emigration, UPFA Secretary Prof. Wishwa Warnapala (now deceased) and the Secretary General of Parliament as Respondents.<\/p>\n