A divided judgement by the Supreme Court on the petitions filed against the dissolution of Parliament will not be accepted, SriJayewardenepuraUniversity Senior Lecturer Ven. MedagodaAbhayatissaTherasaid.
Responding to a question by a journalist at a press conference organised by the Eliya foundation at the National Library and Documentation Services Board yesterday, the Thera said there could not be multiple interpretations of the law.
“There must be uniformity in the interpretation of the country’s law. Different judges cannot see it in different ways. We are not ready to accept a divided judgement,” he said.
A seven-member bench of the Supreme Court yesterday commenced hearing on the petitions filed against the dissolution of Parliament.
The Thera, along with senior artistes Sudath Rohana and Shriyantha Mendis, however said they were keenly awaiting the SC decision on December 7. They added that they have no doubt that the SC would deem the President’s act of dissolving Parliament as “correct and legal.”
Ven. Abhayatissa Thera, further interpreting Articles 33 and 70 of the Constitution, argued that the President could dissolve Parliament at any time. “The restriction of four-and-a-half years only applies when the MPs themselves sought to dissolve Parliament. The No-Confidence Motions moved after dissolution of Parliament on November 9 have no effect. There can be only ‘former MPs’ after the dissolution. What we now urge is an election. An election is a sovereign right of the people. Only those who plundered the country’s assets and resources fear to face an election,” he said.
Senior Artiste Shiyantha Mendis said it was clear that the entire country had plunged into a political crisis.
He noted that however the crisis did not start on October 26, but on January 9, 2015, as President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister. “Nobody asked for a Parliamentary majority then. Nobody went before the courts. The crisis deepened because of arbitrary and anti-patriotic decisions made by Wickremesinghe,” he said.
Asked by a journalist to comment on the controversial payments received by Ven. Dhambara Amila Thera, Ven. Abhayatissa Thera said he wishes to remain non-committal as the Thera was his friend in university.
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