Colombo: Putting to rest the uncertainty
over the question of the current tenure of Mahinda Rajapaksa,
the Sri Lankan Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the President
can begin his second innings this November, an order which
will allow him to be in power for an extra year.
The Supreme Court also said 64-year-old Rajapaksa can
take oath as President of Sri Lanka for the second time within
two weeks of November 19.
"The Supreme Court has informed the President`s Office
that the new term of his six year second term will begin from
the date of his swearing in and that could take place within
two weeks of November 19, 2010," an official statement said.
The tenure of the President of Sri Lanka is six years
and he can call elections after the end of his fourth year.
A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Asoka de
Silva gave the ruling after Rajapaksa moved the Supreme Court
to seek settlement over the question of whether his second
term will begin immediately or in November 2010 when he
completes five years of his first presidential stint.
Rajapaksa, who advanced the Presidential polls by
nearly two years apparently to cash in on the victory over
LTTE, won the January 26 Presidential polls by a huge margin.
Today`s ruling will give Rajapaksa an extra year as
President.
Soon after his victory, a question arose whether
Rajapaksa can take oath in November 2010 since the third
amendment of the constitution says the swearing in should
correspond with the date on which the President was sworn in
for the first term.
President`s Counsel Attorney General Mohan Peiris
submitted that in terms of the Article 31 of the
Constitution, the second term of President Mahinda Rajapaksa
should commence on November 19.
In the case of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga,
she got elected in November 12, 1994 but called for an early
elections after five years.
She, however, took oath during her second term
immediately in 1999 without taking advantage of the third
amendment provisions that enables the corresponding date of
the first term presidency to apply.
PTI
