Govt Should Clear the Clouds Regarding Foreign Judges

Speaking in Parliament United Peoples Freedom Alliance Parliamentarian Vasudeva Nanayakkara said,  the government is making conflicting statements with regard to this  matter.

The Joint Opposition says the government’s stance on the inclusion of foreign judges in the judicial system must be made clear to the international community.

The MP said all citizens have a sense of sovereignty, adding that was the reason the President stated firmly that he will not allow foreign judges in the country.

MP Nanayakkara said the Prime Minister stated this could not be done according to the constitution.

The MP said the international community must be given a clear answer.

Responding to MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara’s charge United National Party Parliamentarian Ashoka Priyantha said in 2002 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe refrained from signing the Rome Statute.

Accordingly the MP said there was no fundamental opportunity to establish an international war crimes tribunal in the country.

MP Priyantha said it is because the Rome Statute was not signed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when he was in office in 2002, that the country has been brought to a state where foreign judges cannot be included.

He said MP Nanayakkara stated the present good governance government has issues.

However the MP added such issues were a sign of democracy.

He charged during the previous governments tenure as to whether anyone could speak even a word true to their conscience.

He then remarked that such was not possible during the time, adding that was what was identified as a dictatorship.