The only solution to what appears to be a standoff between the three arms of the government, the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary, is for one institution to take a step back in order to prevent the country from plummeting to a full-blown crisis situation, former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, said, in what appears to be an advice to the government.
The Senior Minister of Good Governance and Infrastructure Development also said it is difficult to say who is at fault at the moment.
Speaking at the opening of a road carpeted at a cost of Rs 20 million in Horana, Wickremanayake said anyone who is concerned about the future of the country should be able to take a step or two backward in the name of the country.
“Development of roads and bridges is only one aspect of a country’s development. But more importantly, one must create a society where people can live with dignity. In order to carry forward the development activities, all these responsible institutions must act with a sense of responsibility,” he advised.
The former Prime Minister also said the present situation in the country is extremely dissatisfying.
“The country’s administration lies on the three pillars, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. They should share equal powers and should not attempt to overrule one another.
“Even though it is not clear who is right and who is wrong at the moment, one thing is clear and that is the situation in the country is fast deteriorating because of this,” he added.
Wickremanayake’s advice comes at a time when the three leaders of the leftist coalition partners of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), have reportedly asked President Mahinda Rajapaksa to prorogue Parliament as a way out of the stalemate between the Judiciary and the Legislature, over the moves to impeach the Chief Justice.
Leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and Minister Tissa Vitarana, Communist Party Leader and Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera, and Democratic Left Front (DLF) Leader and Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara have told the President that a prorogation will help ease the growing tension over the impeachment move and allow both sides to re-think the situation.
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, in a ruling in Parliament, earlier this month rejected the notices issued on him and the members of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) by the Supreme Court and had added that his ruling would apply to “any similar purported Notice, Order or Determination in respect of the proceedings of the PSC.
By N.D. Sena – Ingiriya
CT