A juggernaut careening menacingly downhill
Tuesday 4th August, 2026 The JVP-NPP government’s desperation to increase the retirement ages of judges apparently knows no bounds. Yesterday, Minister of Justice and National Integration Harshana Nanayakkara and Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa visited Mahanayake of the Malwatta Chapter Most Venerable Thibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala Thera and briefed him on their […]
The JVP-NPP government's desperate attempts to raise judges' retirement ages appear to have no limits. On Tuesday, August 4th, 2026, Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara and Minister of Health Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa met with the Malwatta Chapter Most Venerable Thibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala Thera, briefing him on their plan. The prelate suspected the move was intended to benefit a specific judge, but Minister Nanayakkara denied this claim, mirroring Maithripala Sirisena's assurance to senior Buddhist monks during a religious ceremony at Temple Trees in late 2014.
Sirisena had categorically stated he would never defect to contest the 2015 presidential election, only to do so shortly afterwards.
The government's attempt to dupe the public into believing that raising judges' retirement ages is solely for administrative reasons is unlikely to succeed. The government has abandoned its initial plan and now aims to implement its secondary plan. Initially, it intended to increase only the Supreme Court judges' retirement ages, but this would have made the true motive apparent. Consequently, it has now expanded the scheme to include the Court of Appeal judges, attempting to mask its true intentions.
The government is reported to be considering raising the retirement ages of all judges, hoping to obscure its motive. However, the best course of action would be for the government to delay the controversial constitutional amendment presentation until January 2027. The judge concerned is slated to retire before the end of 2026, according to the Opposition and lawyers' associations.
Alternatively, the government should introduce the new Constitution promised in its election manifesto, "A Thriving Nation: A Beautiful Life." This manifesto includes the promise to abolish the executive presidency and appoint a president without executive powers by parliament. Instead of introducing piecemeal amendments, the government should focus on replacing the existing Constitution with a new one and abolishing the executive presidency.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
