President Ranil Wickremesinghe has decided to reappoint the current police chief, C.D. Wickramaratne, despite the Constitutional Council unanimously rejecting the service extension granted to him last week.
The Constitutional Council reached a unanimous decision during its meeting on October 17 to reject the third extension of tenure granted to Wickramaratne. He had originally been appointed as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in November 2020 and was slated to retire from the police service on March 26, 2023.
President Wickremesinghe had previously extended Wickramaratne's tenure by three months on two occasions, first on March 26 and then on July 09, through special gazette notifications. The second extension ended on October 09. However, on October 13, IGP Wickramaratne was granted an additional service extension of three weeks.
President Wickremesinghe, who is currently on a four-day official visit to China, has reportedly given instructions from Beijing to make the necessary arrangements for the reappointment of IGP Wickramaratne.
