President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris has questioned President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s move to not reappoint Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo Professor Chandrika Wijeyeratne despite her having been placed No. 1 on the list by the University Council.
“One of the lessons to be learnt from the economic crisis is the consequences of not appointing independent and competent persons to institutions such as the Central Bank. Such failure has proven to be catastrophic for the country. Yesterday the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo Professor Chandrika Wijeyeratne relinquished office after her first term because the President refused to select her for a further term. This was despite her having been placed No. 1 on the list by the University Council where she secured the highest number of votes and also being placed first on the list by the panel nominated of the UGC. I wonder what the justification is for refusing to reappoint her as the Vice Chancellor. If our Universities are to thrive they need to be taken away from political control and appointments to the offices of VCs made solely on merit and not on the personal preferences of the Head of State.” Senior lawyer Saliya Peiris said in a statement. (NewsWire)