State of Emergency to be declared in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 08:31 GMT]
State of emergency is to be declared in Sri Lanka, said informed sources in Colombo. The Emergency regulations invest the government with wide ranging powers to arrest and detain persons and ban political activity.

The official notice is yet to be filed under the public security ordinance, sources said.

Article 155 of the Constitution provides the formal basis for the declaration of a state of emergency in Sri Lanka. It empowers the President of the Republic to make emergency regulations under the Public Security Ordinance or under any other law for the time being in force relating to public security. Such regulations may over-ride all existing law except provisions of the constitution.

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