Something unprecedented is happening across this island. For the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, ordinary citizens are openly questioning the integrity of the Chief Justice and the entire judicial system. Not in whispers, not in private frustrations, but in tea shops, on social media, and at public gatherings. The man who caused this rupture is Preethi Padman Surasena. He has manipulated the executive President with a simple and corrupt bargain. He has promised to deliver verdicts that suit the President and the governing party, and in return, he demands a two year extension that no justice has ever received. The judiciary, once the most trusted institution in the nation, is now viewed with suspicion because of one man’s ambition.
But here is the news that offers hope. The opposition leaders have finally woken from their slumber. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the BASL, has shaken off its hesitation. Voices that were silent are now speaking. Motions that were stalled are now moving. The fight has begun.
Let me remind the President of a history he cannot afford to ignore. It was the lawyers of this country who led the fight against the Rajapaksa regime at its zenith. When executive overreach threatened to extinguish democracy, when judges were intimidated and dissidents were disappeared, the legal profession stood firm. They marched. They argued. They refused to bend. That movement did not begin in Parliament. It began in the hearts of attorneys who understood that a nation without an independent judiciary is a nation already dead.
This time, the fight will be much bigger. Because this time, the lawyers are not alone. The people are with them. The business community, the trade unions, the clergy, and the youth are all watching. And they have seen that the danger is not a distant authoritarian threat. The danger is sitting in the Chief Justice’s chair, having personally requested to remain there beyond the lawful term, having made a secret pact to trade verdicts for tenure.
The President must know that if he grants this extension, he will face a movement larger than the one that brought down a regime. The lawyers will lead, but the nation will follow. Courtroom steps will fill with advocates. Streets will fill with citizens. And the world will watch as Sri Lankans refuse to let one man burn down the temple of justice. The fight is on. Choose your side carefully.
