Speaker will pronounce on legality of verdict on Jan 8
Athapattu Banadara
Cabinet
Spokesman and Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella
explained that no legislator will comment on yesterday’s Appeal Court’s
verdict on the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), whereas Speaker
Chamal Rajapaksa will announce Parliament’s stand on the matter on
January 8 when the House resumes for the New Year.
“The Speaker himself is a judge in Parliament and he is the only
individual who is empowered and capable of commenting on the legality of
this verdict. We still stand by the Speaker’s recent announcement which
challenged the Supreme Court's order, stating that Parliament was
bestowed supremacy over the judiciary.
He was briefing the media on the decisions taken by the Cabinet at
its meeting held on January 3,2013 at the Mass Media and Information
Ministry yesterday.
"There were occasions where Parliament did not accept the verdicts of
the courts as outlined in the former speaker Anura Bandaranaike's ruling
as much as Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa's recent ruling, he said. Both
speakers set aside some court orders which challenged the supremacy of
parliament, he added. "We should take into consideration that the
Speaker himself has enormous powers as per the constitution over
internal matters and all proceedings of Parliament.
"As the impeachment is being probed and still the motion is in
Parliament, the final decision will be declared by the speaker on that
day(January 8). No body would like to comment on this verdict without
studying it .We should study the verdict first before commenting on
this,. We received the verdict today itself and we should have time to
study this before commenting, he said.
Responding to the media, he pointed out that nobody can engage in
active politics while holding judicial office.
"But we believe that every citizen in the country has the right to
engage in politics but not when they wear cloaks of unbiased innicence.
Asked about the support received by Chief Justice Shirani
Bandaranaike the Minister explained it was a handful of people in and
around Colombo who extend their support to the CJ. The majority doesn't
have much interest in this matter and they have only a vague idea on
what is happening over this impeachment motion.
"Only a handful of people in Colombo have rallied round with the CJ,
"he said.
When a question was raised about the ethical matter of the process,
the Minister said around 9.000 Golden Key depositors have come forward
without any provocation seeking justice and pointing finger at the
culprits in the judiciary. "That explains the ethical side of this case,
"he said.
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