President's Office silent on secret swearing-in
The President's Office yesterday refused to confirm or deny a secret swearing-in ceremony held in November 2000 to inaugurate President Chandrika Kumaratunga's second-term in office.

Presidential spokesman Harim Peiris deflected the question as to whether such a ceremony took place saying he must ask the President's Secretary W. J. S. Karunaratne who is currently abroad.

The news of the hitherto undisclosed swearing-in of President Kumaratunga by Chief Justice Sarath Silva on November 11, 2000 was exclusively reported in The Sunday Times and Lankadeepa by Ranjith Ananda Jayasinghe last week.

No official statement was released of this event at the time -- three years ago. This swearing-in, in effect, seeks to give President Kumaratunga a term extending until the end of year 2006.

The controversy comes in view of the fact that President Kumaratunga was also sworn-in by Chief Justice Sarath Silva soon after her re-election in December 1999.
Constitutional experts were divided on whether President Kumaratunga was entitled to hold office till end of 2006, or whether her term should be completed after the duration of six years since she took oaths soon after her re-election, which would be end of 2005.

A senior UNF source said the Government's position was that President Kumaratunga's term of office should end by the end of 2005. These sources told The Sunday Times that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Cabinet would be discussing this issue when they reconvene in early January after the vacation period.

According to the report published in the city edition of The Sunday Times last week, while the December 1999 swearing-in ceremony received wide publicity in the wake of the Presidential elections of that year, the November 2000 swearing-in ceremony was not publicised, nor was a statement issued after the ceremony. The story said that then Presidential Secretary Kusumsiri Balapatabendi was the only other person present at the secret ceremony.

Back to Top

Back to Front Page

Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.