After weeks of controversy over an impeachment motion and Supreme Court rulings, Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was sacked today by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. A letter signed by Rajapakse was delivered to Bandaranayake's office.
In a statement, the Presidential office said:
"The president has said in the removal statement that he was in agreement with the request for the removal of the chief justice from office made in the said address of parliament."
See here for coverage by Reuters and The Independent, which described it as a "constitutional crisis".
Commenting on the situation, the former BBC journalist and author of Still Counting the Dead, Frances Harrison wrote:
"It’s been frustrating to watch the international reporting of the story of the impeachment of Sri Lanka’s top judge. Some reports have got bogged down in the issue of whether or not she is guilty of corruption. That’s not the issue at stake.
This is a story about rule of law – about whether the country’s politicians will heed the ruling of the highest court in the land. If they don’t, then there’s little hope for the future."
See here for her full opinion.
See our editorial on the (ir)relevancy of the impeachment to Tamils here.
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