Letters to the Editor
View(s):President should have got legal advice from the Attorney General
In his address to those assembled at the Presidential Secretariat after swearing in Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last Sunday December 16th, the President stated, among many other things, that he had dissolved Parliament not on his own accord (“everyone knows I’m not a lawyer”) but after receiving the advice of eminent legal persons including Presidents Counsel.
But it’s well known that he did not obtain the advice of the one legal luminary that he should have consulted, i.e. the Attorney General of this country who is the Chief Law Officer of the State (let’s just call him “CLOS”).
I would therefore like to add to Dr. Nihal Jayawickrema’s list of questions and ask “Why didn’t someone tell him that CLOS is the State official whose bounden duty it is to give legal advice to the President and that before the President exercises his Constitutional powers he should ask CLOS for advice?
Why should he do that? Because -
- The President is not a lawyer and obviously, and as admitted by him, doesn’t have a clue about how to interpret the Constitution. But that’s quite ok. He needs sound legal advice;
- CLOS is not a political creature and will give sound legal advice since in any event it is CLOS that has to defend the actions of the President in a court of law;
- CLOS will consult with his team in the department and therefore his advice will have the added advantage of scrutiny by those with varying views and perspectives of the law (not politics);
- CLOS has to be cited, according to the Constitution, as the first Respondent in an FR application against the President and it is therefore CLOS who is called upon to argue the case for the President. If the President has not acted on his advice, how can CLOS defend him?
- It is unsafe to act on the advice of others who surround the President pledging political affiliations,(and who are probably the ones he consulted with, this time), for the following reasons-
- their advice will be compromised by their political affiliation;
- they will be prejudiced because of what they personally want out of the situation;
- they are a dangerous breed totally incapable of giving advice that will serve the best interests of the President and of the country;
- getting advice from Presidents Counsel does not necessarily carry an assurance of quality, because PC’ships are now handed down like JP appointments, or even more generously perhaps, without any quality control;
- they are also probably stupid to boot.
And, now those very same advisers are probably the ones telling the President to tell the country what we actually heard the President and a few others say the other day – that the Supreme Court decision deprived the people of an election. They cannot admit to the President that they had got it all wrong, can they? After all, perverse minds don’t admit when they screw up. They’re probably still badgering the President saying they were right and the people were deprived of their franchise!
Will someone please explain the judgment of the Supreme Court to our President and tell him that he shouldn’t say things like that because the case in the Supreme Court was not about an election but about the legality of dissolving the Parliament before 4 ½ years. The essence of the Supreme Court decision is that, for the people to be granted franchise, there must first be a lawful dissolution of Parliament. The franchise of the people cannot be given effect to, by permitting a general election which is held consequent to the unconstitutional dissolution of Parliament. Not a very complicated issue, is it?
DW Via email
Traffic mess and lack of common sense at the top
Driving on a major road like Highlevel Road or Duplication Road between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. is a motorist’s worst nightmare. The slow moving traffic can be understood as even some of the most developed countries have this issue especially in rush hour. But in Sri Lanka it is not the same.
The traffic mess here is related to a total breakdown of highway traffic rules we used to follow decades ago. All highway code rules are forgotten.The only rule is to intimidate the other driver and clear your own path.
In this scenario, there is a great deal of blame to go around to our elected leaders. I often see chaos on the roads and wonder who is in charge of our roads. Tiny Sri Lanka has bushels of elected leaders. Why haven’t at least some of them taken some measures that will bring some level of sanity? More and properly located traffic lights, no left ( or right turn ) signs, no parking at all double yellow lines, no entry signs, no honking signs – the list can go on. All one needs is some common sense.
Granted our road network has not expanded with the load of vehicles on the roads today. That is the foremost problem. Yet to maximize the use of the existing road network and to bring order to our roads, the leaders need to act smart. For example, the days that one could drive from a by-lane and enter into a main road and turn left or right should be long gone. Such intersections need no left (or right) turn signs so such traffic can only enter and join the traffic stream in one direction. This simple sign alone can prevent hundreds of our intersections getting jam packed in the middle and beginning to look like a herd of buffaloes at each others’ throats. Remember that we are in the 21st century now.
Similarly the days one could stop anywhere on a road to do shopping too should be long gone. One needs to learn to park at a properly designated parking area and walk. That is the price to pay for living in cities.
Thirdly only one car should be driving on a lane while others need to be in front or behind. There is no way two vehicles including even a three wheeler can parallel drive with another vehicle on the same lane. No sir.
Any lane change should be done bearing in mind that the current driver on any lane has full right to drive on without being obstructed. This used to be called “right of way” but I doubt present-day drivers even know this phrase.
The biggest culprits for the chaos on our roads are the private bus drivers and the three wheel drivers who drive with impunity. A 10th grade kid somehow gets a driver’s licence, calls himself a bus driver and now controls a huge vehicle that dictates how everyone else drives. They are in constant competition to win passengers at the peril of other drivers and pedestrians.
The following measures may help:
Any private bus driver who causes an accident should be subject to a Rs 5000 fine over and above any other fines and penalties. That should go directly to the Police station. These funds will help add more traffic cops on the beat. Plus this will act as a deterrent to other bus drivers. All police stations should be connected via internet to one central network so that drivers who are repeat offenders will be suspended or banned from driving depending on the severity of the offences.
Three wheel drivers use their size to get their way on the roads. Other drivers fear hitting them for fear of killing them. Given the size of our roads, perhaps creating a four- foot or so wide centre lane exclusively for them to drive is the answer.
Asoka Seneviratne via email