Standing Orders are also law – Yapa
Posted on January 8th, 2013
Disna Mudalige-Courtesy The Daily NewsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Maintaining peace and stability in the country should be the main concern of all, Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said.
He said the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s future generation would suffer in the absence of peace and stability.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sri Lanka is a democratic country. Anybody can attain power by facing elections. For those who attempt to grab power through other means, I would like to tell them not to daydream. That wonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t happen,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he said.
Yapa said the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary should work in harmony for the stability of a country.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-What we are witnessing is not a clash between the Legislature and Judiciary. Certain groups are conspiring to destabilise the country. People should not only totally reject this attempt, but also stand against it,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ the minister said.
Yapa said according to the accepted practice in democracies, Parliament is vested with powers to take disciplinary action against judges of the Superior Courts. ” Everywhere in the world, including the UK and USA, this power lies with Parliament. Today, there are many arguments on this matter. My view is that Standing Orders of Parliament are also considered as law, ” he said.
The minister made these observations at a ceremony to open the reconstructed school building of the Dodampotha Primary School. The Geological Survey and Mines Bureau spent around Rs three million to upgrade the facilities of this rural school.
January 8th, 2013 at 5:55 pm
A carefully worded speech to avoid contempt of court. There is no reason to invoke the same judgement on SB Dissanayake in 2003.
However, calling on the people to stand against [quote] groups conspiring to destabilise the country [unquote] is calling for more instability. The government should handle [quote] groups conspiring to destabilise the country [unquote] through legal means instead of inciting the people to stand against it. Obviously this is not an election where people use the ballot.
January 8th, 2013 at 8:53 pm
Parliament works according to rules and customs that affect how it runs. Some of these are written down and are called ‘Standing Orders’. Standing Orders are written rules under which Parliament conducts its business. They regulate the way Members behave, Bills are processed and debates are organised. But the parliament can not prosecute anyone but can punish for contempt.
Dilrook’s argument “wrong doings by CJ shall be proven under the law” is not correct, because the constitution did not carry the additional words “under the law”. CJ’s worng doings, once proven to members of the parliament will become “proven”. Once CJ has been removed, the government can prosecute her for the worn doings under the law and punished. On the other hand, once removed, if CJ could prove she did nothing wrong, then she will be eligible for compensation.
I fully agree with Dilrook that removal of the 13A should have been done first, with 2/3 majority, without all these childish political games.
No doubt this is a big conspiracy by LTTE and it should have been tackled more carefully with brutal force , even if that require declaration of emergency. I agree that the government totally mishandled this.
Now this minister is calling for people to reject the courts. Istead pass all the necessary laws and remove the LTTE supporters from the judiciary !