News
Explosive changes at SLMC as Minister sacks its President and 4 other members
- The Sunday Times has copy of five-member committee report
- Report has not singled out any SLMC member, says AMS
Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi
According to the AMS, “the whole council is responsible for their decisions and actions and not an individual member (similar to collective responsibility of Cabinet decisions)”.
In a communique signed by its President Dr. L. Ranasinghe, the AMS adds: “To the best of our knowledge there are no legal provisions for the Minister to remove the President or any member according to his/her wish without following the regulations stipulated in the Medical Ordinance.Hence, the process she followed here is completely flawed and purely based on the agenda of a trade union.
“This creates a very bad precedent and may be the first step to destroy autonomy and independence of the Medical Council of our country. This kind of illegal actions by the Health Minister may bring disrepute internationally as Sri Lankan medical standards are well recognised overseas.”
While urging the Minister to reverse her decision immediately to avoid unnecessary turbulence in the field of medicine in this hour of dire need, the AMS states: “We urge all medical professionals of this country to come forward and contribute to safeguard the independence and autonomy of the Sri Lanka Medical Council.”
A major point of contention was whether the five-member committee of inquiry had recommended the removal of any SLMC members in its report.
The Sunday Times, which has in its possession a copy of the report, found the following under the committee’s ‘Additional Recommendations’ – “Responsible officers and council members should be terminated to restore the independence and function of the SLMC.” (Please see the full report)
Never done before
“The President or any member of the SLMC has not been removed by any Health Minister from 1926 up to Friday (November 20, 2020), said the sacked SLMC head Prof. Harendra de Silva when contacted by the Sunday Times last morning.
Prof. Harendra de Silva
“Friday’s sacking of five SLMC members including the President creates a serious threat to this independent statutory body which should be free of political and trade union interference,” he said, pointing out that the members are appointed for five years under the Medical Ordinance and there are six clauses under which the members are supposed to vacate their positions.
Prof. de Silva was categorical that the Minister does not have the right to remove any SLMC member. “Probably, we will go to court,” he said, adding that the Letters of Revocation, without any specific or direct accusations, from the Minister were ultra vires. The letter says, however, that the removal is based on the findings of the five-member committee, the report of which he nor the SLMC has seen.
The five members who have been removed are: SLMC President Prof. Harendra de Silva; and council members Prof. NaradaWarnasuriya, Dr. Upul Gunasekera, Dr. PushpikaUbesiri and Dr. Sunil Ratnapriya.
Pointing out that whatever decisions were taken by the SLMC were “collective” and not individual, he said that these collective decisions included Prof. Vajira H.W. Dissanayake, who has been appointed in his place by the Minister, as well as the three current members representing the GMOA, its President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya, Dr. Naveen Zoysa and Dr. Nalinda Herath. The fourth GMOA member, Dr. Harris Pathirage, had resigned over some differences with the other GMOA members.
“Therefore, any charges generating from the inquiry committee cannot be brought against just five SLMC members but the whole SLMC,” he said.
Prof. NaradaWarnasuriya said that he is not guilty of any charges and if there are any deficiencies in the functioning of the SLMC, no individuals can be picked out as it is a collective decision-making body, either through consensus or voting.
“I totally reject the charges,” he said, reiterating that the SLMC has a right to see the committee report. The committee was fact-finding and it was not a disciplinary inquiry.
“We have been told that no one has been identified by name,” he added.
The committee of inquiry was appointed by the Minister based on allegations made by the GMOA with regard to certain problems in the council. The same allegations came out as the ToR of the committee of inquiry, it is learnt.
A three-member committee of the SLMC comprising Prof. Vajira H.W. Dissanayake, Prof. Surangi Yasawardene and Dr. Suresh Shanmuganathan had compiled a 200-page report as a response to queries by the committee of inquiry, while SLMC members had also met committee of inquiry for over two hours.
Meanwhile, when contacted the newly-appointed SLMC President Prof. Vajira H.W. Dissanayake, said that he understands that “the Minister of Health has followed due processes”.
The Sunday Times understands that Prof. Vajira H.W. Dissanayake had informed the SLMC office that he was to replace Prof. de Silva, but had been told that no such intimation had been received by Prof. de Silva and that he was, in fact, chairing the monthly meeting. Prof. Dissanayake had not attend the meeting physically nor on Zoom.
During the meeting, an uproar had ensued, with two council members, one physically present and the other participating virtually, protesting against Prof. de Silva chairing the meeting.