Athapattu Banadara-Courtesy The Daily NewsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Cabinet Spokesman and Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella explained that no legislator will comment on yesterdayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Appeal CourtƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s verdict on the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), whereas Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa will announce ParliamentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s stand on the matter on January 8 when the House resumes for the New Year.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Speaker himself is a judge in Parliament and he is the only individual who is empowered and capable of commenting on the legality of this verdict. We still stand by the SpeakerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s recent announcement which challenged the Supreme Court’s order, stating that Parliament was bestowed supremacy over the judiciary.

He was briefing the media on the decisions taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held on January 3,2013 at the Mass Media and Information Ministry yesterday.

“There were occasions where Parliament did not accept the verdicts of the courts as outlined in the former speaker Anura Bandaranaike’s ruling as much as Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa’s recent ruling, he said. Both speakers set aside some court orders which challenged the supremacy of parliament, he added. “We should take into consideration that the Speaker himself has enormous powers as per the constitution over internal matters and all proceedings of Parliament.

“As the impeachment is being probed and still the motion is in Parliament, the final decision will be declared by the speaker on that day(January 8). No body would like to comment on this verdict without studying it .We should study the verdict first before commenting on this,. We received the verdict today itself and we should have time to study this before commenting, he said.

Responding to the media, he pointed out that nobody can engage in active politics while holding judicial office.

“But we believe that every citizen in the country has the right to engage in politics but not when they wear cloaks of unbiased innicence.

Asked about the support received by Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranaike the Minister explained it was a handful of people in and around Colombo who extend their support to the CJ. The majority doesn’t have much interest in this matter and they have only a vague idea on what is happening over this impeachment motion.

“Only a handful of people in Colombo have rallied round with the CJ, “he said.

When a question was raised about the ethical matter of the process, the Minister said around 9.000 Golden Key depositors have come forward without any provocation seeking justice and pointing finger at the culprits in the judiciary. “That explains the ethical side of this case, “he said.