“1978 Constitution places me above the Law” - Sri Lanka's President

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 March 2010, 11:15 GMT]
“Republic Constitution of 1978 brought by the then J. R. Jayawardene government places me above the Law. Accordingly judiciary cannot take action against me. The consititution empowers me to punish any soldier of the Sri Lanka Army who works against the country,” Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse said Tuesday while addressing an election rally in support of Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollogama held at Kotte, according media reports from Colombo.

“The Foreign Ministry and Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama acted firmly and responded decisively during the final stage of the war against LTTE to avoid unnecessary foreign interference,” he added.

Meanwhile, a senior minister in the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), D. M. Jayaretna, said at an election rally in Gampola that no room would be given to international community to destabilize the country through the United Nations.

“President Mahinda Rajapakse is very firm in this regard. The President who defeated LTTE once and for all is not ready to rule the country on the instructions of the UN Secretary General,” he added.