Citizen Silva to challenge way PC laws were passed
“I am appearing before the Supreme Court as a citizen of Sri Lanka and thus exercising my Constitutional right,” former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva said yesterday.
He pointed out that Article 126 of the Constitution lays down, that the Supreme Court “shall have the sole and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question relating to the infringement or imminent infringement by executive or administrative action of any fundamental right or language right declared and recognised by Chapter III or Chapter IV.”
He was commenting on the fundamental rights application he has filed before the Supreme Court challenging the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act No 17 of 2017. His petition is three fold: (1) that the Attorney General’s opinion on the amendments to the Bill was ultra vires and void. (2) He, as the petitioner, is seeking a declaration that the Speaker’s certification that the Bill was duly passed by Parliament is ultra vires and void; and (3) a direction to the Election Commission to proceed immediately to hold elections to Provincial Councils on the basis of the existing law.
Sarath Silva told the Sunday Times; “We are a democracy. The essence of such a democracy is periodic elections. It is through the use of the franchise of the people that a President, Parliament, Local Government and Provincial Council institutions are elected. It is the same franchise that is used.
“Local Government is very close to the heart of the people. There are Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas. One person who understood this concept extremely well was the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa. He knew they were institutions elected by the people. He was quite conscious that there should be continuity. That was why he made provision for the conduct of elections to these local government bodies six months before their terms expired. That way he ensured there was no disruption of the work carried out and development programmes, among other matters, were on schedule. Since August 2015, however, they (the present Government) resorted to various ruses to put off elections. We now see some of the ill effects of such action.
“Garbage from the City of Colombo, which came under the purview of the Colombo Municipal Council, was dumped in Kolonnawa, an area which came under another local government body. The sky high pile of rubbish collapsed in April last year, when the nation was observing national holidays. Nearly 30 people died. This is a clear case of the absence of democracy at the grassroots level.
“The terms of three Provincial Councils have ended. They (the administrations) have been brought under Governor’s rule. The Government did not wish to have elections. It introduced the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. It is well known that the objective was to put off elections to the three Councils whose terms had expired. The Supreme Court held that the 20A cannot be passed without a two thirds vote and a referendum of the people. When their plans went awry, they (the Government) used the Provincial Council Elections (Amendment) Bill which was specifically intended to provide for 30% of the members to be elected to Provincial Councils were women.
“After the formal first reading, at the second one the provisions remained. However, when it came to the third reading or the Committee Stage, they introduced 21 pages full of amendments. The original provisions of the Bill were altogether replaced by the Minister and an entirely new Bill was moved. This is a dangerous precedent. For example, if they want to abolish Provincial Councils they could follow such an insidious procedure.
“Other parties too will go to Supreme Court. Urgent steps are necessary in the public interest. That is why I am moving in. Democracy is a collective right. Since all cannot go to Court, one must go. We have nothing to do with Parliament. Let them do what they want. We are saying that the Speaker is at fault. What the Attorney General expressed was only an opinion. Only the Supreme Court, as the country’s Constitutional Court can determine the constitutional validity of a Bill. How can the Speaker say that the Bill was “duly passed”? He is the custodian of the House.
“My fundamental rights application is in respect of an “executive or administrative action.”