Colombo, Nov 2 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court, on Thursday upheld a verdict by the Appeal Court to unseat from parliament, actress turned politician, Geetha Kumarasinghe for holding a dual citizenship which was in violation of the constitution.
A five judge bench headed by Chief Justice Priyasath Dep ruled that Kumarasinghe could not be a Member of Parliament because she held dual Sri Lankan and Swiss nationalities.
The judgement read that she was not qualified to be a candidate at the August 2015 Parliamentary elections because she had not renounced her Swiss nationality.
The Appeal Court had in May, ruled to expel Kumarasingha from her parliamentarian post due to her dual citizenship and stated that she was in violation of the 19th amendment to the constitution, which prohibits dual nationals from holding any elected office.
Kumarasinghe who was elected as a member of the United People’s Freedom Alliance however said that she had written a letter to the Swiss Embassy in Colombo asking them to revoke her Swiss nationality. But the Court of Appeal was not convinced she had renounced her Swiss nationality.
According to the EconomyNext, the Supreme court’s decision means she will have to repay the salary she drew as a member of parliament since August 2015 and also reimburse the cost of other privileges she enjoyed as a lawmaker, including a luxury car.
President Maithripala Sirisena who came to power in January 2015 amended the constitution to bar Sri Lankans with dual citizenship from contesting elections.
