{"id":186403,"date":"2018-01-15T10:41:41","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T05:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=186403"},"modified":"2018-01-15T23:19:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T17:49:25","slug":"supreme-court-snubs-attorney-general-says-presidents-term-ends-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/supreme-court-snubs-attorney-general-says-presidents-term-ends-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Snubs Attorney General, Says President&#8217;s Term Ends In 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A five-member bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Maithripala Sirisena&#8217;s term is limited to five years from the date of assuming office.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_177387\" style=\"width: 367px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Priyasad-Depp-e1510904275592.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-177387\" class=\" wp-image-177387\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Priyasad-Depp-e1510904275592.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"357\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Priyasad-Depp-e1510904275592.jpg 387w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Priyasad-Depp-e1510904275592-262x300.jpg 262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 357px) 100vw, 357px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-177387\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chief Justice Priyasad Depp<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The ruling followed a reference submitted to the Supreme Court by the President last week seeking opinion whether or not he could serve for six years.<\/p>\n<p>The bench comprised of Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, Eva Wanasundare, Buvaneka Aluvihare, Sisira de Abrew and K. Chitrasiri is reported to have communicated its opinion to the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya claimed that since Sirisena was elected on January 8, 2015 for a period of six years, any change of term would be &#8216;an alienation of the sovereignty of the people.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on the 19th Amendment, which limited the presidential term to five years, Jayasuriya offered the following argument to the Supreme Court:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no provisions in the 19th Amendment to operate same with retrospective effect. Constitutions cannot be amended with retrospective effect.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/shocking-blow-to-yahapalanaya-from-sirisena-asks-sc-if-he-can-continue-as-president-until-2021\/\">Shocking Blow To Yahapalanaya From Sirisena: Asks SC If He Can Continue As President Until 2021<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/yahapalanaya-in-crisis-unp-anxious-as-sirisena-plays-lone-hand\/\">Yahap\u0101lanaya In Crisis: UNP Anxious As Sirisena Plays Lone Hand<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sirisena-in-damage-control-mode-re-term-extension\/\">Sirisena In Damage-Control Mode Re Term Extension<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":177387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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