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English.news.cn 2013-01-19
14:46:09
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COLOMBO,
Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government on Saturday rejected concerns
raised about its state of democracy following the appointment of a new Chief
Justice.
Deputy
Foreign Minister Neomal Perera said most concerns were baseless and stem from
lack of knowledge of local laws and the constitution.
Over
the past week several countries and organizations have raised concerns over the
impeachment and subsequent removal of former Chief Justice Shirani
Bandaranayake and the appointment of a new Chief Justice.
Canada
has threatened to boycott a Commonwealth heads of government meeting scheduled
to be held in Sri Lanka in November this year.
However
Perera said the summit will go ahead as scheduled and that the actual ground
situation has been explained to delegates and envoys from other countries.
"Some
people are making statements without having proper knowledge about our
constitution. Over the years there have been other judges who have also been
impeached. This will not have a serious impact on the Commonwealth
summit," he said.
Sri
Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa this week appointed former Attorney General
Mohan Peiris as the new Chief Justice.
The
move however drew criticism from the United States, United Nations, European
Union and several others while the Commonwealth Secretariat expressed deep
disappointment at the process in which the former Chief Justice was removed.
On
Friday the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said she will
submit a report on Sri Lanka at the February-March session of the UN Human
Rights Council. She had said that Bandaranayake was removed in a
"flawed" process.
The
European Union meanwhile on Friday called on the government of Sri Lanka to
ensure the safety of Shirani Bandaranayake and all human rights defenders.
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Editor: Yang Lina
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