The Leader of the Opposition and TNA Leader, R. Sampanthan, states that the legislature of the country has shown its independence.

He stated this speaking at a press conference after the parliamentary session held this morning (14).

“Since the 26th October this country has been moving into a situation of turmoil. The incumbent Prime Minister was removed from office; a new Prime Minister was appointed; a cabinet was appointed; parliament was prorogued; and subsequently the parliament was dissolved. All these actions were in contravention of the constitution of this country. They violated the country’s constitution”, he stated.

“We, on the basis of a policy decision, decided the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will oppose those actions on the part of the executive. We went to the court. The first petition finding the Supreme Court challenging the order of dissolution of parliament was filed by me, on behalf of my party. That matter was taken up for inquiry yesterday. And the court has suspended the operation of that gazette declaration, the operation of the dissolution of the parliament and the consequential steps pertaining to the elections”, said Sampanthan.

“We have thereby preserved the sanctity of the constitution – the supreme law of the country; we have thereby ensured that the rule of law prevails in this country”, according to the Opposition Leader.

He further said, “The independence of the judiciary has been demonstrated by the judiciary yesterday. And the independence of the legislature has been demonstrated by the decision taken by the 122 MPs, against the present government and against the continuance of the Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa as the PM of this country.”

Sampanthan says that, now is the time for the country to return to normalcy and for good governance to prevail. He appealed to all those with authority to do what is right and the legal and not to violate the law of the country.