The United National Party (UNP) this morning rejected the argument proffered by former Chief Justice (CJ) Sarath N. Silva and other United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) members that under the 19th A, the incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena did not have the authority to appoint a Premier (PM).
He stated that the President had no say in selecting a prime minister other than appointing as Prime Minister (PM) a member who commanded the majority support in parliament.
United National Party (UNP) Colombo District Candidate and Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe told a media briefing that under 19th Amendment the President had the authority to appoint anyone whom he thought would be able to win the confidence of a majority of members in parliament.
Adding further he stated, that the ex-CJ was double-talking and behaving in a duplicitous manner.
The minister hit back at the former- CJ that during the presidential election he came out with an entirely different opinion when on several occasions he very clearly stated that the then president Mahinda Rajapaksa had to be thrown out of power. The minister also recalled that the ex-CJ Silva had tendered a public apology for having given an incorrect judgement in the ‘Helping Hambantota Case’ in which the ex-president was charged with committing a financial fraud.
The minister stated that similarly all the other judgments given by Sarath N. Silva during his tenure as chief justice were questionable when considering the apology he made on the ‘Helping Hambantota’ scam.
