The SLPP has moved the Court of Appeal against Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala.
On behalf of the SLPP, its Administrative Secretary, Renuka Perera, has filed a petition against Minister Wijepala. The Secretary General of Parliament and the Attorney General, too, have been named as respondents.
Perera has said Wijepala couldn’t serve as a member of Parliament while being the Chief of Staff to the President. The petitioner said that in terms of Article 91 of the Constitution, a person engaged in public service was not eligible to sit in Parliament or vote in Parliament. Wijepala earlier served as Private Secretary to MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The petitioner has requested the court to rule that Wijepala is not qualified to be an MP, in accordance with the Constitution.
The petitioner has also requested that an interim injunction be issued preventing Wijepala from sitting as a Member of Parliament, from acting as Minister of Public Security, and from voting in the Parliament, until the petition is heard and a final decision is made.