Sri Lanka - President changes law on retirement age limit

The president will hereafter be able to extend the retirement age of any public official for whom the law says he is "appointing authority" - including the attorney general, says Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Last month, Rajapaksa issued an Extraordinary Gazette amending the rules of the Public and Judicial Officers (Retirement) Ordinance to state that: "…the President may if he considers it expedient extend the age of compulsory retirement of any Public Officer appointed by the President."When asked to clarify what public officials were eligible for extension under the new regulation, Weeratunga told LAKBIMAnEWS: "All public officials for whom the president is appointing authority, including the attorney general and secretaries." When it was noted such appointments were governed now under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, Weeratunga replied: "The appointments have to be recommended by the Constitutional Council, that's a different story. The appointing authority is still the president." Rajapaksa's critics have accused him of having changed the law to extend the term of Attorney General C R de Silva so that he may be made Chief Justice on Sarath N Silva's retirement in June. Weeratunga denied this and said C R de Silva - whose term has already been extended by six months till February - will retire before Sarath Silva does. "The attorney general is due to retire in February while the chief justice steps down in June," he explained. He said the attorney general was "only given an extension at this point of time to ensure the smooth functioning of the attorney general's department". "We will have to find another attorney general in the interim," he added. Asked until what age the president could extend the retirement age of these public officials, Weeratunga said, "indefinite… there is no limit." He claimed it was not a new regulation. He also said President Chandrika Kumaratunga had extended the retirement age of IGP Chandra Fernando by a year (he retired at 61). "It's the same principle."Meanwhile, the proposal to extend the retirement age of all public sector workers to 63 is still before Cabinet. Weeratunga said such a move would save billions for the government in terms of pensions but added that it was up to the cabinet to decide