Cops’ confusion confounded

Thursday 19th October, 2023

The Constitutional Council (CC), which has earned notoriety for being a mere rubber stamp for the President, plucked up the courage to act independently, for once, on Tuesday; it refused to approve a third service extension for IGP C. D. Wickramaratne. But he remains the Police Chief despite the CC’s decision, and he cannot do so without the blessings of the powers that be.

It is being claimed in some quarters that the CC should not have caused the incumbent IGP’s term to lapse while President Wickremesinghe and Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles were out of the country because such action is fraught with the danger of rendering the police rudderless. This claim, we believe, is a hard sell. The President has proved that he can exercise his executive powers whether he is here or overseas. Above all, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted last year, but the country did not become rudderless, did it?

The manner in which President Wickremesinghe has sought to extend IGP Wickramaratne’s term for a third time has belied the much-advertised claim that the 21st Amendment has weakened the executive presidency. The President is still capable of undermining the CC and bulldozing his or her way through.

It is said that the CC and the President are likely to find themselves on a collision course. This unfortunate situation has come about owing to the government’s indecisiveness.

A new IGP should have been appointed when Wickramaratne reached the retirement age in March 2023. There is no way the government can justify its decision to keep granting him service extensions at the expense of the deserving Senior DIGs, who are facing a grave injustice. Worse, the Police Department is in a state of confusion, and the netherworld of drugs and crime has emerged stronger than ever.

The government is said to be in a bind, unable to pick any of the three SDIGs who are eligible to succeed Wickramaratne, in terms of seniority, because it is under pressure to institute legal action against them for their failure to prevent the Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019, and other issues. However, the solution is not for the government to keep granting Wickramaratne service extensions. It will be several years before the SDIGs concerned reach the mandatory retirement age, and Wickramaratne cannot be retained as the IGP until each of them hangs up the badge. If one of them cannot be considered for the top post, then the government ought to look for someone else; there are other officers who have not been held accountable for the security lapses that led to the Easter Sunday carnage.

It is high time the government summoned the courage to grasp the nettle. A new IGP must be appointed without further delay. If there are legal issues impeding the appointment of the police chief, they must be sorted out. That is what a government is there for.

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Another ruse

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday turned down a government invitation to a political party leaders’ discussion on electoral reforms. He told Parliament that before trying to change the existing electoral system, the government had to respect the people’s franchise and conduct the much-delayed elections.

One could not agree with the Opposition Leader more. The need is for elections and not electoral reforms. There is no gainsaying that the current electoral system is flawed and has to be changed. But the government ought to get its priorities right.

The SLPP-UNP combine is trying every trick in the book to avoid elections for fear of losing them badly. The proposed electoral reforms could therefore be considered a ploy.

Premadasa rightly called upon Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to ensure that funds were allocated for the Election Commission so that the local government polls could be held. His call has struck a responsive chord with all those who cherish democracy.