Government plotting to appoint favourites under guise of increasing judges’ retirement age: Mano Ganesan

18-Aug-2026

.

Tamil Progressive Alliance leader and Parliamentarian Mano Ganesan has alleged that the Government is plotting to appoint its preferred individuals to senior positions under the guise of increasing the retirement age of judges.

He made these remarks while speaking to the media following a book launch held in Colombo.

He further said:

“We have already made our position clear regarding the proposed constitutional amendment that is to be presented to Parliament on August 18. There is no need to repeat it. However, I do not know whether some people have failed to understand it properly or whether they are incapable of understanding it in the correct manner.

“The issue here is not the age of judges. If a person is competent, there is nothing wrong with extending the retirement age. Such practices exist in some countries. However, when the media reports this, they should not simply say that Mano Ganesan agreed to increasing the retirement age.

“The Government says that the terms of experienced judges are being extended to expedite the disposal of hundreds of thousands of pending cases in the courts. But if the Government is genuinely concerned about this, the question arises as to why it did not immediately fill the vacancies in judicial positions that existed in the past.

“Many experienced judges have retired in recent years. Priyantha Fernando had 33 years of experience, while Ilancheliyan had 40 years. Similarly, Thurai Raja had 10 years and Kumudini Wickramasinghe had 16 years of experience. When such experienced judges are available, the Government is allowing them to retire and is instead plotting to bring in people from outside whom it favours.

“The Government is presenting this measure to ordinary, innocent people as though it is doing something beneficial, while its real objective is to appoint people of its choice to these positions. We have no objection to increasing the retirement age to 70 or even 80. What we oppose is the Government’s manoeuvre to use this process to appoint individuals of its choice.

“As someone who travelled with my brother Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the Opposition for many years in Parliament, I tell him not to do this. The President says that he is facing a great danger by undertaking this task. But has anyone asked him to step down from office? He still has five years remaining in his term.

“The Government is attempting to create a false narrative by claiming that there is a conspiracy to overthrow it. We have never been part of any effort to overthrow a democratically elected Government through conspiracies or armed force. It was the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna that resorted to violence against the governments of Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1964 and Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1989, not us. We will change governments through elections. There are still three years remaining, so let the President continue in office.

“When all Opposition parties unite, they call it a conspiracy and label us thieves. I have never stolen anything and there are no files against me. That is why I speak with confidence. If the Government has nothing to fear, let it seek the people’s mandate and find out whether the people support this move. The people will then give their response. But the Government will never do so.”