Archives

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Pandemonium broke out at yesterday's Western Provincial Council (WPC) meeting due to various statements made by the ruling PA ,the JVP and NLF member Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne against the decision of the Court of Appeal upholding the election of UNP member Dixon J. Perera as chairman of the council.

There was shouting and cross talk until the meeting was adjourned for tea. As a result of the power cut,the entire chamber was in darkness three times and the situation became noisy with Council members shouting and jeering obstructing the proceedings.

The council members said that the meeting cannot be conducted in darkness and the Leader of the House Sunil Jayamini requested the Deputy Chairman Jagath Angage to adjourn it. Finally Mr. Angage postponed the meeting to March 26 without taking a decision on the request made by the PA and the JVP members to withhold the implementation of the court decision.

The trouble started after a statement, made by the Deputy Chairman who proposed that the Council Secretary should be allowed to announce the appointment of Dixon J. Perera as the new Chairman of the WPC.

Mr.Angage said Dixon J. Perera who contested the chairmanship from UNP had filed a case in the Court of Appeal regarding the official results of the vote conducted on 19-12-2000 to appoint a new Chairman to the WPC.

He said the court has given a judgement and ordered the Council Secretary A. H. Gamage to announce the result that Mr.Perera has been elected as the Chairman of the WPC. The court has also ordered the Council Secretary not to conduct a vote again and pay a sum of Rs.10,000 to the petitioner from his own account.

Piyasiri Wijenayake (JVP) raised a point of order saying that an agenda for the council meeting circulated among council members had not mentioned about the reading of this court order by the Council Secretary. Therefore, it cannot be allowed as it is not included in the agenda. We should work according to the will of this council, not according to the needs of the court. This council is not a Death Donation Society, he said.

Opposition Leader Kithsiri Kahatapitiya said the implementation of the order is the duty of the Deputy Chairman and requested him to do it.

Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne (NLF) questioned as to what council law empowered the Council Secretary to make such a statement ? He asked the Deputy Chairman to brief on the legality of the situation. There is no way that the secretary could implement this order. This Council should also follow a procedure similar to parliament.

S. Amarasinghe (JVP) said the Council Secretary has no power to make announcements. Acting according to the court rules violates the privileges of the council members.

Explaining the council law, Anthony Fernando (PA) said the council had not surrendered its rights to any court.

The Deputy Chairman said:" This is a question and I have no expert knowledge on law. I have to perform my duties under the council laws. If there is a need, instructions should be obtained from the legal experts."

Gamini Gunaratne (UNP) said according to this situation arisen, the Deputy Chairman had the opportunity to settle this matter without going to court. After waiting for the court decision, the statements made on the validity of this court order has created problems. This is an insult to court.

Nalin Dissanayake (UNP) said if the secretary did not implement the court order, he would go to courts for contempt of court.

Keerthi Udawatta (PA) said parliament traditions are followed as examples by the Provincial Councils. Even a judgement given by the Supreme Court was refused by the former Speaker Anura Bandaranaike. He requested the Deputy Chairman to give a decision following the initiatives taken by the Speaker.

Chief Minister Reginald Cooray said the court has given a judgement on a problem arisen in this council. How to implement this judgement within this council law is the problem faced. I request an opportunity to study this matter and take a clear decision. If this judgement is not disputable, there is no problem. In this situation, unnecessary pressure should not be made to the Deputy Chairman.

Douglas Fernando (UNP) said the council Secretary did not announce the election of Mr. Dixon J. Perera as the Chairman though he got a majority votes. As a result Mr.Perera filed a case in the Court of Appeal. Now the court has rectified the error and the secretary has been ordered to announce the courts judgement. In this situation, the privileges of the majority of the council members have been violated. If the ruling party was not satisfied with this Court of Appeal decision, they would have gone to the Supreme Court, he said.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager