Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe (center) waves as he takes part in a rally to mark International Labour Day in Colombo on May 1. (Photo: AFP)
Sri Lankan lawmakers and activists have hailed the country’s Constitutional Council (CC) after it declined to extend the term of the Attorney General (AG) amid protests from civil society.
They alleged that President Ranil Wickremesinghe was keen on extending the term of the current AG, Sanjay Rajaratnam, who was scheduled to complete his term on June 26.
However, the CC, independent of executive and legislative control, rejected the president’s proposal at its meeting on June 18.
Speaking in parliament on the same day, Dayasiri Jayasekara, a lawmaker, expressed gratitude to the ten members of the CC for thwarting what he called “a political coup” attempted by the president.
“The chief justice is retiring in a few months. After extending the term of the current AG and [then] appointing him as the chief justice, the president tried to settle the court cases” pending against him, Jayasekara alleged.
Pubudu Surin, a rights defender from Colombo, said Wickremesinghe is attempting to create a favorable political environment for his return as president in the election scheduled between Sept. 17 and Oct. 16 this year.
“The president has already appointed as Inspector General of Police [IGP] a person who faces many charges, including for failing to prevent the Easter Sunday suicide attack,” Surin told UCA News on Jun. 19.
Sri Lanka's top Catholic leader, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, criticized Wickremesinghe last week for linking the AG’s tenure extension to the Catholic Church.
“When the AG retires, another can be appointed. Our question is why these discussions are being used as an excuse to keep the same AG,” he said.
The president had implied that the AG played a crucial role in a committee coordinating with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka on future steps regarding the probe into the Easter Sunday attacks.
The bishops' conference criticized the president, labeling his statement as baseless and an effort to undermine the bishops.
The bishops' body said Rajaratnam had not implemented the recommended actions from the presidential inquiry into the Easter Sunday attacks since his appointment as AG in May 2021.
“The president’s reported intention to seek an extension by exploiting the Easter Sunday attacks" and involving the bishops' conference "is wholly condemned,” it said in a statement on June 7.
Sunila Jeewani, a university student, said the president has unnecessarily gotten involved in judicial issues, which undermines the rule of law.
“Legal experts have noted that historically, no extension of service has been granted to the AG in this country,” Jeewani added.
