President Ranil Wickramasinghe emphasized that the issue raised regarding the appointment of the Inspector General of Police will be resolved within a week in consultation with the Speaker and the Chief Justice.
The President said that he is not at all ready to move the presidential election beyond September 21 and that he will make the necessary arrangements to hold the presidential election on September 21.
Also, the President pointed out that according to Article 106 of the Constitution, the Election Commission has the power to conduct an independent and free election in the country and said that it is the absolute duty of everyone to provide full support for it.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe mentioned this while participating in the ‘Jayagamu Sri Lanka’ Colombo District Migrant Walk program held today (28) at the Homagama bus stand premises.
Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe, who spoke on the occasion, further said,
Some people ask me what will happen because of this crisis. A case was filed in the Supreme Court saying that the system used to appointed the Inspector General of Police was wrong. The request was made to file an appeal case. He said that the appeal can be submitted according to tradition. But at the same time, the Supreme Court announced that the Inspector General of Police will be removed from his post and suspended from work. There were no facts about it.
Under Article 106 of the Constitution, the Election Commission can get police officers only through the Inspector General of Police. Not from the DIG. This should come from the Inspector General of Police. If there is no Inspector General of Police, how can those officers be obtained? The required number of police officers should be requested this week. If asked later, it will not be possible. Then the election cannot be held. So this is very important.