24 October 2019 12:00 am
I was highly saddened and extremely perturbed over the news that two of our civil society activists were threatened with death for moving the courts questioning the eligibility of presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa to contest the forthcoming presidential election.
I was so disturbed because of the simple reason that it was amply proved that the case in itself was not without substance or any validity because of the following reasons.
First and foremost I contend that we have observed many cases of this nature in various courts rubbished and dismissed with warning to their movers, whereas it is not for nothing that this case was deliberated at great length with absolute care and concern by the learned judges with many legal eagles arguing the case from both sides with a large fleet of lawyers and president’s counsel of great eminence, the cream of the country’s legal fraternity defending Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s interests.
Then we saw how the court house was thronged by a large number of lawyers and others comprising the flower-bud party perplexed and confused which way the verdict would swing, conspicuous among them was the eminent professor and author of law G.L. Peiris appearing to be highly shaken and confused, and worst of all was the obnoxious cheering by some lawyers that took place in the court when the verdict was announced.
Further President Sirisena appeared to have been eagerly awaiting the verdict before deciding what stance he should take regarding the presidential election, having been apprised by his lawyers that the verdict would probably go against Gotabaya.
And last but not the least, the veteran politician Mahinda Rajapaksa hurrying in all haste to make a deposit for his elder brother Chamal Rajapaksa as a backup action to be ready with a candidate in case Gota was disqualified from contesting.
Doesn’t all these facts prove that the two learned men Prof. Chandragupta Thenuwara and Gamini Viyangoda going ahead with their findings and moving the court with courage and fortitude was a matter of great interest that should be appreciated and respected by all right-thinking people as they have dared to educate the public on a highly controversial legal matter that shook Sri Lanka’s entire political firmament.
A.W.M. Aiyoob