தவறவிடாதீர்கள்..!உடனே பதிவு செய்யுங்கள்

BY M. MANOCHITRA

Deputy Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Sunil Watagala has launched a scathing attack on opposition lawmaker Prof. G.L. Peiris, accusing him of political opportunism regarding discussions on judicial independence and the rule of law.

Responding to opposition allegations that the government is attempting to paralyze the judiciary by extending the tenure of judges, Watagala stated that it was the opposition that intentionally created a false narrative surrounding the proposal.

"Prof. G.L. Peiris, who is now lecturing the opposition and the public on judicial independence, served as the Foreign Affairs Minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa's government in 2013. When the Rajapaksa family unlawfully and improperly impeached the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, G.L. Peiris remained completely silent and actively supported the government. Where was his consciousness regarding judicial independence back then?" Watagala questioned.

The Deputy Minister pointed out that Sri Lanka's judicial system is currently crippled by a backlog of 1.1 million pending cases, severely affecting ordinary citizens. He mocked Peiris as a politician whose "full-time job" has shifted to hopping from one opposition press conference to another depending on shifting political alliances.

Watagala reaffirmed that the current administration has no desire to stifle the judiciary. Conversely, he noted that past bottlenecks hindering high-profile investigations have been cleared, allowing the state to provide full cooperation to the courts. "This is precisely why corruption cases involving multiple opposition figures are now being expedited. How can accelerating justice be interpreted as weakening the judiciary?" the Deputy Minister argued.