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Constitutional provisions cited by AG say Jayasekera can’t become MP
The Attorney General’s Department has written to the Justice Ministry citing Constitutional provisions dealing with disqualifications to be an elector and an MP, after the Ministry sought its opinion on the status of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MP-elect Premalal Jayasekara, a murder convict.
Mr Jayasekara, who has been sentenced to death for a 2015 murder, requested the Commissioner General of Prisons to allow him to go to Parliament to take oaths as an MP. The Commissioner General had turned to the Justice Ministry for advice, and the Ministry had referred the matter to the AG’s Department.
Justice Ministry sources said that in reply to the ministry’s letter, the AG’s Department had written back referring to Articles 89(d) and 91(1)(a) of the Constitution. The ministry has now forwarded the letter to the Department of Prisons.
Article 89 deals with disqualification to be an elector. According to Article 89(d), one of the disqualifications is if a person is “under sentence of death.” Article 91 refers to disqualification for election as a Member of Parliament.
Article 91(1)(a) notes that no person can be elected as an MP or sit and vote in Parliament if he or she “becomes subject to any of the disqualifications specified in Article 89.”
In light of this situation, either the Department of Prisons or Mr Jayasekara’s lawyers may refer the matter to court in the coming days to seek clarification, sources said.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told Parliament that he had instructed the Commissioner General of Prisons to bring Mr Jayasekara to Parliament at its next sitting date on September 8 to take oaths as an MP.
The Speaker made the announcement after Government MPs urged him to immediately order prison authorities to bring Mr Jayasekara to Parliament as he had appealed against the death sentence imposed on him by the Ratnapura High Court for a murder committed in 2015.
Mr Jayasekara polled the second highest number of preferential votes from the Ratnapura district though he had been sentenced to death by the Ratnapura High Court only days prior to the August 5 Parliamentary election. He was sentenced to death along with two others after being found guilty of shooting dead an opposition party activist and causing serious injuries to two others during the 2015 Presidential election campaign. The victims had been decorating a stage erected for a campaign meeting of the then common candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias “Pillayan,” who is currently indicted in the Batticaloa High Court in the murder of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham, did take oaths as an MP on August 20. Unlike Mr Jayasekara, however, his case is still pending in court.