Sri Lanka could lose Commonwealth membership over impeachment of top judge, Opposition Leader warns

Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe warned that the country may stand to lose its membership in the Commonwealth over the impeachment process of the country's top judge if it does not follow the procedures set out by the Commonwealth. Wickremasinghe said that the Commonwealth has set out a procedure for investigating a judge and that failure to follow them in the impeachment of the Chief Justice could result in Sri Lanka losing its membership in the Commonwealth. He has made this statement today while addressing a seminar organized by Platform for Freedom to commemorate the 64th International Day for Human Rights. Wickremasinghe has pointed out that the Commonwealth law has outlined that special investigations need to be carried out with the participation of three international judges before a vote is taken in parliament. He has observed that Sri Lanka already has human right issues in the United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC) and the government should not make any blunder with Commonwealth. Wickremasinghe has added that Sri Lanka would lose the support of many countries if it does not follow Commonwealth procedures. The government therefore needs to rethink the issue of the country's top judge and decide whether it will re-conduct an impartial investigation on the matter, he said.