The Constitutional Council has rejected President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal to extend the tenure of Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam by another six months, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told the media.
Two weeks ago, the President recommended that Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam be given a six-month extension. The relevant recommendation was then forwarded to the Constitutional Council for approval.
This approval was mandatory for the extension of the Attorney General’s service. This approval was postponed by the Constitutional Council which met on Monday the 10th. It was decided that the relevant proposal should be further discussed. Last week the Speaker of the House said that the Constituent Assembly which met today will have to reach a final agreement regarding the extension of the service of the Attorney General.
However, the Council, which met today rejected the President’s proposal to extend the term of office of the Attorney General. There was strong opposition from the society regarding the President’s request to give this service extension. The Catholic Church strongly objected to it saying that the President is going to extend the service of the Attorney General by using the Catholic Church.
Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam will retire by the end of this month. President’s Attorney Sanjay Rajaratnam took oath before the President as the 48th Attorney General of Sri Lanka on May 26, 2021.
