Elections to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka will be held on the 24th. Two President’s Counsels candidates have entered to the election for the post of Chairman. They are President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris and President’s Counsel Kuvera de Zoysa. Both are contemporaries of the Law College, both of whom are said to have served as chairpersons of the Law College unions.
Initially a very peaceful and principled election campaign, this Bar Association election campaign has since intensified, launching low-profile propaganda campaigns on social media targeting the main candidates, especially Saliya Peiris. This election has now become very warm condition.
In fact, I wanted to write a few words about Saliya Peiris, I know only Saliya Peiris from the two main candidates in this contest. That is because for a long time he was a man who spoke out and stood up for democratic rights, including human rights, in this country.
Former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was one of the leading lawyers representing the legal community in the public outcry against the illegal removal for petty political reasons.
Then He t met us as a Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, along with its Chairman and other Commissioners to take prompt action against human rights violations in Sri Lanka, as well as to make important recommendations to the Government for the promotion of human rights in Sri Lanka. Commissioners including Saliya Peiris took steps to set up mechanisms to take immediate action on a series of human rights violations.
After the establishment of the Missing Persons’ Office, which was a key part of the mechanism established by the previous government to bring about transitional justice in Sri Lanka, we meet again as the Co-Chairman of the Immigration Office. He did a great deal of work to strengthen the newly established offices
Now he is going to take on another big challenge like that. That was the first chair of the Bar Association. Today, like other associations, the Bar Association is becoming limited only to board. Due to the activities of some of the lawyers representing this association, there is a strong public outcry against the entire legal community.
In addition, the new Chairman will take the lead in intervening to establish the rule of law in the country, protecting the independence of the judiciary and the fundamental rights of the people, and taking steps to implement the plan with the co-operation of others, in order to dispel public mistrust of the judiciary and direct the people to the judicial process. Another challenge facing.
We wish him victory
Philip Dissanayake