The ruling party of Sri Lanka has begun procedures to impeach the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake for allegedly violating the country’s constitution.
117 signatures have been collected from across President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) against Bandaranayake after she ruled against a parliament bill.
She ruled that the provincial councils in the country, including in the Tamil dominated Northern and Eastern provinces, needed to approve needed to approve development budgets before they came to parliament.
Cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters that the Chief Justice’s conduct had "affected the sovereignty of the people", saying,
"Government members believe that the judiciary is overstepping its limits and (she) violated the constitution”
Rambukwella went on to dismiss the notion that the move was eroding the independence of the judiciary, stating that they were acting within the constitution. He went on to say, "Those allegations are baseless. The government does not practice jungle law, we are using what is available to us in the constitution. If what we have done is not constitutional, the speaker will turn it down."
TNA politician Suresh Premachandran also commented on the situation, noting,
"The government is all out to suppress anyone who tries to stand up against the executive".
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