Mahinda Rajapaksa and Saliya Peiris Openly Comment on 22nd Amendment and Judicial Reforms
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris have begun publicly commenting on proposed judicial reforms, including the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution.
Both figures broke their silence yesterday (21). Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that bringing about a constitutional amendment at this juncture is inappropriate.
Meanwhile, President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris and several others held a press conference making distorted representations regarding the process. Peiris claimed that the initial proposal was limited solely to extending the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, with additional amendments being tacked on at various later stages. However, the actual process involved multiple consultative sessions reviewing diverse aspects to formulate the final draft.
Earlier, certain BASL officials and the Opposition jointly claimed that the government was preparing to extend the Chief Justice’s retirement age to exert undue influence on the judiciary. PC Saliya Peiris has now joined in spreading similar distorted viewpoints. Notably, during the 2022 public uprising (Aragalaya), Peiris aligned himself with the youth movement’s core slogan demanding legal action against corrupt politicians.
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