Premalal Jayasekara sworn in as MP amidst protests
September 8, 2020 01:19 pm
Premalal Jayasekara, who was sentenced to death and is imprisoned, has taken oaths as a Member of Parliament this afternoon (08) amidst strong objection from the Opposition.
The Parliament chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena convened at 1.00pm today.
Jayasekara, escorted by prison officials, arrived at the Parliament complex at around 11.30am to attend today’s parliamentary sitting.
On July 31, Premalal Jayasekara alias ‘Choka Malli’ was sentenced to death by the Ratnapura High Court over a murder committed in 2015.
Jayasekara, however, won the 2020 General Election and managed to secure the second position in the Ratnapura District Preferential List after contesting through Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
Thereby, the Speaker of the Parliament instructed the Commissioner General of Prisons to bring Jayasekara, who is currently imprisoned, to Parliament on the 8th of September.
As prison rules and regulations have not made provisions regarding an inmate on the death row acting as a public representative, the Commissioner General of Prisons had inquired on the matter from the Ministry of Justice, which in turn made an inquiry from the AG.
Subsequently, the Attorney General informed that Premalal Jayasekara was not eligible to act as a Member of Parliament under Articles 89 (d) and 91 (1) (a) of the Constitution.
The writ application was then filed before the Court of Appeal requesting to grant Premalal Jayasekera permission to attend parliamentary sessions.
The Commissioner-General of Prisons, Welikada Prison Superintendent and the Secretary General of the Parliament were cited as the respondents of this writ application.
On Monday (07), Jayasekara was allowed to attend parliamentary sittings as per an interim order issued by the Court of Appeal on the prison authorities.
