Do not allow the destruction of Democracy and Rule of Law

By Yohan Perera 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said over the weekend that one must not allow anyone to destroy 
Sri Lanka’s Democracy and Rule of Law once again and thus should let another Constitutional crisis to take place.  

Mr Wickremesinghe who was speaking during a ceremony organised by some civil activist groups on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of October 26, 2018, constitutional crisis said it would be an uphill task to restore democracy and rule of law in the country if the country loses these components once again.  

“If we lose democracy and rule of law once again it would be a difficult task to restore them once again,” the Prime Minister said.  
“I was removed from office illegally exactly one year ago. However, I decided not to accept this removal as it was against the constitution. It would have been a great betrayal had I accepted the status quo at that time.  

Therefore, I decided to remain at Temple Trees and fight against my dismissal. I did this because a Prime Minister could be appointed and removed only by Parliament.  
Ultimately the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court acted independently while the Speaker managed to safeguard democracy in Parliament. 

 
“At the end, we were able to ensure that we remain in power,” the Prime Minister recalled.  

Making a special statement earlier the Prime Minister said the defeat of the constitutional crisis was a victory for the whole country not an achievement of the government or those who fought to restore democracy.  

He said Democracy and Rule of Law were restored because of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.  

Also, the premier thanked all those who contributed to defeating the constitutional crisis.  

If we lose democracy and rule of law once again it would be a difficult task to restore them once again