Colombo: Card Ranjith calls for government resignation and elections

A stalemate has been brewing for a few weeks now after the Election Commission refused to allocate funds for local voting. The Supreme Court ruled that the Treasury cannot withhold them. The archbishop: 'The government must respect the decision, otherwise it undermines the foundations of democracy'.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - Parliamentarians should resign and allow the people to elect a new government. This is what the Archbishop of Colombo, Card. Malcolm Ranjith, criticising the political stalemate that has been created in the country after the postponement of local elections.

"The rulers have created an unfortunate situation, so parliamentarians and ministers should resign from their posts if they have the courage, and let the people elect a new administration," the archbishop said yesterday at a press conference he convened at the Archbishop's House.

"It cannot be said that the people of Sri Lanka like these rulers, because we voted for another agenda that no longer exists today. On the contrary, they are trying to come up with other new programmes," said the cardinal, who also called for action against parliamentarians committed to undermining the authority of the judiciary.

The government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe has repeatedly claimed that it was impossible to conduct elections previously scheduled for 9 March and then postponed to a later date by the Election Commission due to 'lack of funds'.

However, earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued an order stating that the government has no right to withhold the funds and obliges the Treasury to allocate them.

"No one has the authority to interfere in the Supreme Court's decision. It is clear that the ruling issued on 3 March binds the president, the government and Parliament equally," stressed Card. Ranjith. "They must respect the decision, otherwise they would undermine the foundations of democracy."

"It has been reported that two MPs have called this decision a violation of their parliamentary privileges by the Supreme Court. The matter should be viewed with great concern," the cardinal continued, pointing out that no one can interfere with judicial matters under the pretext of parliamentary privileges. "I call for action to be taken against these MPs to ensure that the freedom of the judiciary is maintained," he added.

The archbishop went on to emphasise that trying to postpone elections by putting up obstacles of various kinds is undemocratic: "The government does not have the power to take away people's rights; if it did it would become a dictatorial regime". 

At the same time, the cardinal condemned the privatisation of the port of Trincomalee, the sale of which was reportedly negotiated in favour of foreign companies. Card. Ranjith commented that this is a very sad situation and that such actions cannot be approved.