Sri Lanka's Muslim Party Opposes Impeachment Against Chief JusticeSri Lanka's main Muslim Party, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), has decided to oppose impeachment motion against Chief Justice Sarath Silva, party officials said on Sunday.The decision was made at a meeting of the party high command in capital Colombo on Friday presided over by SLMC leader and Muslim Religious Affairs Minister Rauf Hakeem. The SLMC was concerned about the implications of recent ruling by the supreme court regarding action by Parliament on the impeachment motion put forward by main United National Party against the chief justice, they said. They added that SLMC hoped that a compromise solution would be reached to enable the national legislature and the judiciary to work in harmony. The Supreme Court issued an order on Wednesday to block impeachment proceedings in Parliament against Sarath Silva, trying to prevent Parliamentary Speaker Anura Bandaranaike, President Kumaratunga's brother, from appointing a panel of legislators to investigate allegations of chief justice's misconducts. The UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe said the Supreme Court had no right to issue orders on the rights and powers of parliament and it should only act within its limitation. The UNP handed over proposals with 77 signatures to the Parliament earlier on Wednesday to impeach the chief justice on allegations of misconducts. |
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