Diana Gamage goes to SC to protect her parliamentary seat

by AJA Abeynayake

SJB National List MP Diana Gamage has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking an annulment of her party’s decision to expel her from the party membership causing her to lose her parliamentary seat.

The petitioner has named 11 respondents including SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Chairman Sajith Premadasa, Parliament’s Secretary General Dhammika Dassanayake and Election Commission Chairman Nihal G. Punchihewa and its members, and Elections Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake.

The petitioner alleges that the respondents had sought to cancel her party membership by alleging that she had voted in favor of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

The petitioner alleges that the respondents did not allow a fair disciplinary inquiry before expelling her and alleged that this was a violation of the legal principle of natural justice.

Accordingly, she has requested the Supreme Court to issue an order revoking the SJB’s decision to suspend her party membership.

Gamage entered parliament on the SJB National List after the last election. She is the wife of a former army officer, Senaka Haripriya de Silva, who was a principal aide of General Sarath Fonseka when he ran for president and thereafter, but there was a later parting of the ways.

Gamage claims she “owns” the SJB. At the time Sajith Premadasa and his supporters broke off from the UNP, they had no opportunity to register a new political party as an election had been proclaimed. They therefore ran through the party registered by Gamage as has been done by others previously.