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luwie niranjan Profile picture
luwie niranjan
@LuwieNiranjan
is more than the sum of his tweets. Re tweets are not endorsements.
Sep 23 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Since the PM has resigned the Cabinet of Ministers is dissolved.
So one of the ways President could have navigate the problems of appointing a new cabinet has been shut out. I tried to explain this option in a post last night (1/7)
But the PMs resignation might actually make things easier for the President to justify appointing an NPP member as PM. The Constitution requires that President @anuradisanayake will have to appoint an MP who in his opinion is likely to command the confidence of Parliament. (2/7)
Sep 10 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Under Sri Lankan law, the moment you get citizenship of another country, by operation of law, you lose your #lka citizenship. You don't need to inform anyone or fill a form, the loss of citizenship is automatic.
You can of course thereafter apply to become "a dual citizen". (1/4) You cannot vote if you are not a citizen or a dual citizen (See Article 89 of the Constitution). If you do vote, then you are committing an offence (under election law) and also violating immigration law. You can be fined and imprisoned (2/4)
Feb 6 • 17 tweets • 5 min read
A (longish) thread about the Online Safety Act NOT including the amendments mandated by the Supreme Court in its Special Determination. I usually don't talk about cases i have appeared in, but this raises several interesting constitutional law issues #lka (1/17) I 1st heard of the draft Bill thanks to @aselawaid sharing information about the cabinet decision, which said the Attorney General had given "clearance for the draft Bill"
The Bill was published (gazetted) on 18/9/2023 / (2/17)
documents.gov.lk/files/bill/202…
Aug 3, 2022 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
So the "New version" of the governments 22nd Amendment has been gazetted. The document is available at documents.gov.lk/files/bill/202… some initial comments & thoughts 1/ There aren't many changes from the previous version of the governments 22nd Amendment. A big problem is with the composition of the Constitutional Council, which has not changed from the last draft.This composition gives the gov control over the CC see 2/
Jun 30, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
The government's 22nd Amendment to the Constitution has been gazetted. It is bad. It is far weaker than any of the versions previously proposed by the Minister of Justice (even his own private members bill)
documents.gov.lk/files/bill/202… (1/11) The Constitutional Council is sham. It gives the government control & is just a continuation of what is there under the 20th amendment. The government will have control of 7 of the 10 members when the President & government are from the same political party / coalition (2/
Oct 5, 2020 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
The Prime Minister's defence of the provisions of the 20th amendment sound like cleverly written legal arguments designed to deflect. A quick response to some of these arguments is important considering the coverage this press statement is getting (1/15) First of all, what he said @sanjanah context is important & the PM's press release lacks that For more context read the statement by The Sri Lanka Audit Inspectors’ Association who are also challenging these provisions of 20A newswire.lk/2020/09/12/sl-… (2/15)
Sep 10, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Claim 1 by the "Professor" of law (as reported by @NewsWireLK )
"President will have to report to courts and will not be able to efficiently serve the public"
This is FALSE the President does NOT report to Court. The cases are instituted against the AG who represents Pres. (1) Claim 2: "The President was made to appear before various commissions and courts prior to his election. If he is to appear before such courts and commissions after being elected as the President, he will not have sufficient time to implement pledges made". This is also FALSE (2)
Sep 8, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The interim order of the Court of Appeal is available at courtofappeal.lk/index.php?opti…
The following passage at pg 9 is interesting (1/4) "What is prohibited,on the argument of the learned [DSG], is sitting & voting in Parliament, provided this disqualification is held to be operative against this elected representative.This Court is not going to look into the validity or invalidity of his election or any other."2
Sep 2, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
According to @adaderana only the term limits, RTI, 5 year term of Pres will remain. What does this mean?
- President to have immunity for all acts as President, including when the s/he violates the constitution. 1/ Image - Any bill Cabinet certifies as urgent has to be examined by the Supreme Court in 24 to see if its according to the constitution. After it becomes law no citizen can challenge it. This is how the 18 Amd was passed. So any gov can pass an entirely new constitution like this 2/
Aug 20, 2020 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Thread on Indian SC proceedings in #PrashantBhushan contempt case. This makes for a fascinating read. side note #lka does not have an analogous Contempt of Court law (different aspects of contempt of court are provided in other laws) which would cover the facts of this case (1/4) which means judges in #lka won't have the same statutory limitations that the Indian SC has. This is dangerous & many have been calling on Parliament for years to enact a contempt of Court law.
See for unroll of this long thread (2/4)
Aug 4, 2020 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
A thread on how your votes translate into seats for political parties a #SriLankaElections2020 This is straight out of the Constitution [Article 99(5) - (9) & 99A]
EVERY VOTE COUNTS, even if you can't help a party win in your district, it still counts for the national list [1/10] Each voter can cast ONE vote for a political party & up to three preferences for candidates nominated by that political party. So REMEMBER your vote counts, so go vote tomorrow bright and early #LKAElections2020 [2/10]
Jul 17, 2020 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
This tweet got me thinking as to how #lka response to Covid-19 has mostly been based on "Rule by press release" as opposed to the Rule of Law. From the de facto curfew / lock down / quarantine curfew which has no clear basis in law to the "regulations for wearing masks" [1/11] Which are not even regulations in the legal sense of the word. Whilst people should continue to do these things the gov needs to have clear laws for people to follow, if not it leads to abuse like in the case of [2/11]
Jul 3, 2020 • 8 tweets • 5 min read
So Yuthukama, a group which backed the President at the last election & whose members have received nominations from the @PodujanaParty have put out the following proposal for constitutional reform in #lka Attached is their proposal for essentially Sinhala only (1/8) According to them Sinhala should be the State language, Sinhala should be the language of record across the country.Tamil can be the medium of instruction in schools.The proposal also recognize the right of Tamil spears to transact business with the government in Tamil, BUT (2/8)
Jun 14, 2020 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
You have to ask what are these "principles" that motivated him to vote against the 19A? Here they are in his own words from the Hansard of 28th April 2015 (pg 791-795). He voted against the 19A because of his own paranoia that it would give "minorities" too much power (1/6) Through some twisted logic he imagined a scenario where non Sinhala persons will be 6 out of the 10 in the CC, all because the 19A (like the 17A) said when making appointments to the CC the PM & LO have to take into consideration the "pluralistic character of Sri Lanka" (2/6)
Jun 3, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Where to even start with these two "task forces"! other than to say that was fast! but based on an initial reading what intrigues me the most is how they circumvent the Cabinet;
1) Why do you need a taskforce for these functions? cabinet of ministers + public service.... (1/6) ... are supposed to implement existing laws on these issues. Does this mean the President has lost faith in his own cabinet of ministers?
2) of course 1 assumes the President expects the "task force" to act within the law. of course he does. how could we assume otherwise? (2/6)
May 22, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Saw several interesting discussions on twitter about the lack of post independence history in Sri Lanka. Much has been written on the July 83 riots, its chief architects the @officialunp have never acknowledged their role in the riots, let alone express any remorse (1/4) On this day (22nd May) in 1958 with more than tacit support of the SLFP an anti tamil pogrom started in in the North Central Province & spread across the country, there had been several incidents in previous years but this was much larger & widespread (2/4)
May 18, 2020 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
It's only partly true that SLC doesn't run on public money

A) it came out during COPE proceedings, that when @OfficialSLC needs money because of these development projects they take loans advances from the GOSL & from State owned Commercial Banks with gov guarantees. (1/4) B) The work of building such stadia is done through State institutions & there were ongoing disputes between SLC & State enterprises (SL Ports, State Engineering Corporation) on unpaid dues for Billions of Rupees. See pg 79 - 80 COPE report parliament.lk/uploads/comrep… (2/4)
May 5, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
This is a great point made by @welikalaa & this will possibly be achieved by threat of litigation as opposed to actual litigation.
The difference in resource is an distinct advantage in any form of litigation but this is more acute in this kind of litigation (1/8) But filing a defamation case is not without it's own perils, especially if the other party takes it to trial. As R. Premadasa found out when he sued A. Bandaranaike in the late 70's.
To prove a defamation case you have to 1st prove you have a reputation (2/8)
Apr 21, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Remembering all the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks one year ago! All those who were killed in Colombo, Negombo & Batticaloa whilst they prayed or whilst they were spending a Sunday morning with friends & family. All those who lost loved ones to this disgusting crime (1/5) All those who felt unsafe to leave their homes or profess their faith.. either because they were scared of bombs or mobs... All those who were made to feel unsafe by their "friends" or people they grew up with.. to all of them all I can say is "Shalome!" (2/5)
Apr 9, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
@TharakaBalasur1 makes a very important point about the implications of deliberately postponing Provincial Council elections. If past experience is anything to go by the Governor's would have anyway ignored the elected Provincial Council (1/2) BUT all those who allowed the previous government to deliberately postpone PCs elections have to own up to their mistake. That was blatantly undemocratic & was done for political expediency & has had long term political consequences (2/2)
Mar 18, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Until nominations are concluded GR has the power to withdraw the Gazette calling for elections. This will mean we have a Parliament than can meet any time & consider issues. After nominations theoretically he can still withdraw Gazette but he won't (1/4) What's more likely to happen is for the Election commission to postpone elections because of the prevailing condition. That won't resuscitate Parliament. My opinion is that means we will be stuck under "Presidential rule" until EC holds Parliamentary Elections. (2/4)