President Ranil Wickremesinghe has justified a service extension to attorney general Sanjaya Rajaratnam with a claim that he plays a key role as a committee member that coordinates with the Catholic Bishops Conference with regard to investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks.
With the opposition criticising the move, MPs Wajira Abeywardena, Premnath C. Dolawatte and several others met the president and inquired from him about the matter.
Wickremesinghe said he tasked his secretary Saman Ekanayke, chief of staff Sagala Ratnayake and Rajaratnam with discussing the related report by a presidential commission with the head of the conference, Rev. Harold Anthony Perera, bishop of Kurunegala.
Rajaratnam’s term will continue till these talks conclude, said Wickremesinghe, since a successor to him will need time to study the matter.
A dangerous precedent
However, legal experts find this to be a dangerous precedent, and claim the president’s intention is to appoint Rajaratnam as the chief justice.
Wickremesinghe has asked the Constitutional Council to extend his term until December, although it is due to end on 27 June.
Incumbent CJ Jayantha Jayasuriya retires in December.
