Hundreds of government-supporting rickshaw drivers choked the capital demanding the sacking of Sri Lanka's chief justice on Friday as the supreme court debated the legality of moves to impeach her. Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake has been accused by the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance party of financial and professional misconduct in a case which has raised fears that the government is trying to control the courts. The demonstration, organised by the pro-government Three-Wheel Taxi Drivers' association, was the biggest public display of opposition to Bandaranayake, 54, the first woman in the country to hold the office. The ubiquitous three-wheel taxis gathered en masse at the Town Council square in Colombo and drove past the Superior Courts Complex causing more traffic jams along the narrow streets of the congested capital. "We have about 700 of our members taking part at the start of this protest," said M. A. Sarath Wimala as he drove his green-coloured Bajaj autorickshaw towards the courts complex. "This is not a rent-a-crowd, we are genuinely interested in the independence of the judiciary," he said, adding that he did not believe that the chief justice was independent. The protest came a day after Sri Lanka's parliament headed for a showdown with the judiciary over the ruling party's plans to impeach Bandaranayake whose recent judgements had gone against the government's legislative agenda. "This (impeachment) is a matter which falls exclusively within the purview of parliament's authority," Parliamentary Speaker Chamal Rajapakse, who is also President Mahinda Rajapakse's eldest brother, announced on Thursday evening.
