Washington: Voicing concern over impeachment and removal of the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, the United States has said that this undermines the international reputation of the island nation.
"This entire issue serves to undermine the international reputation of Sri Lanka as it pertains to investment decisions that foreign companies might make.
"So you know, there is usually a cost to this kind of thing in terms of their ability to track foreign investment," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her news conference yesterday.
"We had made clear throughout this impeachment that we were concerned about what it said about the democratic process, that we were concerned about the perception of reprisals against somebody for independent thinking and action.
So those concerns remain with regard to the quality of Sri Lankan democracy," the Spokesperson said in response to a question.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday appointed Justice Mohan Peiris to replace country`s first woman chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake, whose impeachment created much furore both inside and outside the nation.
PTI
