The political circus is in full swing once again, and this time it’s starring the one and only Deshabandu Tennakoon, along with a supporting cast of politicians and legal eagles! Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more chaotic, the Supreme Court has issued an interim order preventing Tennakoon from occupying the top chair of the police force.
He is no longer Inspector General of Police (IGP) at least for the time being and his future is hanging in the balance.
Ranil Deshabandu must be feeling like he’s stuck in a revolving door of legal woes, spinning round and round with no exit in sight. The man thought he had the top cop job in the bag, but oh no, the court had other plans. They’ve granted leave to proceed with not one, not two, but nine petitions challenging his appointment. Among the petitioners is none other than Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, whose name alone adds a dash of ecclesiastical gravitas to the whole affair.
And let’s not forget the Speaker of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, who’s finding himself in quite the pickle too. Accused of using his decisive vote in a rather, shall we say, creative manner, he’s got to be wondering if there’s a less controversial way to make decisions. Maybe flipping a coin?
The Supreme Court, in its wisdom, has also decided that the President needs to find someone else to keep the seat warm as IGP while Tennakoon’s fate hangs in the balance. Imagine being the understudy for this role – it’s like being handed a ticking time bomb and asked to juggle it.
Desabandu’s Track Record
The petitioners argue that Tennakoon, during his stint as Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) of the Western Province, dropped the ball during the 2019 Easter attacks and the GotaGoGama protest fiasco. They say the police chief job should go to someone with humane qualities, not someone with a track record of, let’s just say, questionable decisions.
The Speaker apparently played the role of tie-breaker in a vote that saw 4 members in favor, 2 against, and 2 abstaining. The abstentions were counted as votes against, which feels a bit like counting your chickens before they hatch, or in this case, counting non-votes as nay votes. The Speaker’s decisive vote pushed Tennakoon’s appointment .
To add another layer to this deliciously tangled web, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volter Turk, has also chimed in, expressing his concern over Tennakoon’s appointment given past allegations of torture from 2010. Because what’s a political scandal without a bit of international attention?
So, as the election season heats up, we’ve got a legal showdown, a speaker in a tight spot, and a police chief appointment hanging by a thread. What would Ranil Wickramasingha do next ?
