PM moves to control President's Fund
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a three-member committee to study changing the President's Fund and Development Lotteries Board (DLB) laws in what appears to be a move to impose the supremacy of Parliament over the Executive Presidency in the developing constitutional crisis following last week's attempt by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to take over the DLB and the UNF Government's moves to stall the move.

The three-member committee is to comprise Ministers K. N. Choksy, Tilak Marapana and Sri Lankan Airlines chairman Daya Pelpola who have been asked to study methods by which to place controls on how the President's Fund could disburse monies obtained through the development lottery. The UNF-PA standoff has been defused by the intervening Vesak holidays and the Prime Minister's visit to India over the weekend.

The Mass Communications Minister and the Government Printer are to ask the Attorney General for a copy of his unsolicited opinion on the Development Lottery takeover issue as the constitutional crisis was gearing to surface after the Vesak holidays.

Both Minister Imthiaz Bakeer Markar, who countermanded the Presidential directive to print the gazette notification giving legal effect for the takeover of the lottery from Economic Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda and Government Printer Neville Nanayakkara confirmed that they would ask for the AG's opinion.

The UNF government says the printing of a gazette is compulsory to give legal effect to any Presidential directive of this nature. Attorney General K.C. Kamalasabeyson has opined that the President ought to have consulted the Prime Minister before she proceeded to takeover the lottery -- an opinion the President says she never asked for.

Legal sources however told The SundayTimes that despite the AG's opinion to the President, the Government Printer may still be obliged to carry out the President's instructions because he was obliged to do.

The question, however, arises whether the Government Printer is obliged to carry out an illegal or un-constitutional order, when he knows that the AG has given an opinion that the President must consult the Prime Minister when effecting such changes of ministerial functions.

The President's decision to takeover the DLB remains unchanged. DLB Chairman J.K. Fernando declined to comment citing legal advise.

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