Mahinda Rajapaksa: no legal impediment
Reuters/Colombo
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has cleared President Mahinda Rajapaksa to stand for a third six-year term and declare snap presidential polls after he completes four years in office, his party said in parliament on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court had responded to an approach by Rajapaksa to determine if there was any constitutional obstacle to him standing for a third term, something the top lawyers' association had opposed.
"The Supreme Court has unanimously decided the president has no legal impediments to contest a further term," and the president has the authority to call for an election," Nimal Siripala De Silva, leader of the house, told parliament.
Rajapaksa and his family have a tight grip on Sri Lanka's economy and on politics which critics characterise as an unusually personalised system of government. He has also been criticised over human rights standards.
The government has said it will hold an early election in January amid some indications its popularity is fading. But to secure another term as president, Rajapaksa had to ensure the constitutional path was clear.
Jathika Hela Unrumaya, a hardline nationalist Buddhist party and a coalition partner of Rajapaksa's ruling party, which is critical of the president's decision to go for a third term, said the Court's move had undermined confidence in the rule of law.
"With this decision, the confidence on the judiciary will decline," Athuraliye Rathana, a Buddhist monk, told Reuters.
J.C. Weliamuna, a lawyer said it was regrettable that the matter was not handled in an open court.
Many political analysts had expected the decision to be in favour of Rajapaksa. The Supreme Court is headed by one of his allies and the former attorney general, who was appointed by the president to the post in early 2013.
