Motion to make English the mandatory medium at Law College: Was it presented by a ghost?

The rules under the Council of Legal Education Ordinance (Chapter 276) inclusive of the decision taken by the Council of Legal Education to make English the mandatory medium of examination at Sri Lanka Law College, was defeated in the House in bizarre fashion on Tuesday.

Opposition parties asked for a division on the motion as it was on the agenda for the day. The Government claimed the motion had been placed on the agenda in error given that the Cabinet had not approved the gazette.

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was not present in the House, nor was Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, who the Opposition alleged had submitted the Cabinet paper on the matter when he was Justice Minister. Both Ministers were on a ‘working visit’ to South Africa.

Government and Opposition MPs spoke against the motion, alleging that it would place the country’s legal field in the hands of an elite who had studied in English, while shutting the door on those who had studied in Sinhala and Tamil.

A vote was eventually taken and the motion was overwhelmingly defeated by 113 votes to 1. Interestingly, all Government MPs in the House also voted against the motion. The only MP to support the motion was Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Chandima Weerakkody, who now sits with the Opposition.

Given that no one in the Government was willing to take ownership of the Cabinet paper that had been submitted on the matter, National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa queried whether it was a ghost

who submitted it to the Cabinet.