PM seeks Speaker to rule on SC pronouncement

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today in Parliament sought Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to overrule the Supreme Court pronouncement given way back in 2006 saying Sri Lanka's accession to the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) needed a two- thirds majority of Parliament and approval by people at a referendum.

Calling it a perverted interpretation of the Constitution, the Prime Minister said the obiter dicta of the Supreme Court violated Articles 3, 4 and 5 in this respect.

He made this point in answer to a question directed by Government MP M.H.M. Salman. Mr. Salman said Sri Lankan citizens used to complain to the UN Human Rights Committee, but the successive governments stopped responding to it because of this Court pronouncement called the Singarasa Case.

The Premier replied that the Supreme Court did not have the power to violate the basic tenets of the Constitution.

"Instead of confining itself to the matter before the Court, it has meandered into a totally irrelevant area and made pronouncements on the Constitutional competence of the President to accede to the Optional Protocol," he said.

He said it should be left to the Speaker to rule on this after necessary consultations.

He cited good governance, rule of law and human rights, transparency and accountability as the cornerstones of the national unity government. Accordingly, he said the government informed the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights in January, this year of its participation in the communication procedure of the UN Human Rights Committee.

The Prime Minister noted that the government intended to devise a time-line and appropriate approach to respond to pending communications from the Committee. He asserted the government's commitment to it.

Sri Lanka acceded to the first Optional Protocol in 1997.

Meanwhile, Joint Opposition's parliamentary group leader Dinesh Gunawardane asked for a debate on the matter as it was a serious issue before the Speaker rules.

The Prime Minister said the Speaker could consult the members in the form of a session which might even take two days before giving his ruling.(Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera)